paradiddlesjosh   Judges ⚖️

Sorry Lucas, I'm throwing in with my fellow Js here. I'm not bothered nearly as much by the intentional dissonance, but this needs another mastering pass for sure due to the audible clipping from 1:42 onward. Besides being dry, the ride sample at 1:13 sounds too clean, too hi-fi compared to the other parts of the drumkit on top of being mixed too far forward. I know you and jnWake can turn this one right around 'cause it's really close! NO (resubmit)

Nah, there’s a lot of the old arrangement that’ll need to get redone. Big chunks of it are placeholder stuff (especially the piano at the end borrowing heavily from a vgmusic.com piano arrangement of Lost Painting). And the SotN cameos you wanted to add are outside the scope, cool as they would be to add. If anything, it needs more Metroid, not more Castlevania. It’s not top of mind for me right now, though; I’ll probably get back to it after the new year.

This may be the time to re-tool Back in Cold Blood 😎

Count me in!

I was sleuthing this one with Larry after it apparently passed the panel and I agree, the suspicion of generative AI elements in this track is high. We don't accept generative AI submissions here at OCR, either in whole or in part. We want artistic takes on VGM materials, not whatever the machine spits out when you prompt it. Show us what you can record and/or sequence! NO

Gonna side with my fellow Js here, Jiba-Gunna. This is definitely a straight cover with different instruments and changes to the percussion, and to be honest, it sounds like you just took a .mid of the Ending and slapped some VST instruments on it without any tweaks to the data. Unfortunately, it's also very poorly mixed: everything's too loud and the render audibly clips in places. I'll also recommend checking out either the #workshop channel on our Discord server or the Workshop forum here on the site for more feedback. We encourage you to go beyond the bounds of the original track and make this piece your own! NO

Dropping a quick co-sign of my fellow Js. This probably works super well as a VGM deep cut in a club setting. The Gex VO samples are a nice touch as well. The big issue for posting this on OCR is the lack of overt variation between the first and second halves of the track. As proph and Hemo said, we'd be looking for either new material in the second half or removal of repeated/reused material. As is, it's a NO

That's a pretty solid use of the multi-tongue articulation in the trumpets right at the jump! The result is much better than trying to brute-force staccatissimo 16th notes at tempo in terms of realism. proph nailed all the major points on this one already: the strings are sorely lacking in realism (especially the solo violin) and the arrangement is overly repetitive. There's also too much of the original audio for an acceptable OCR submission. As an additional note, I'd sub the piatti (crash cymbals) out for tambourine during the A section: in a physical orchestra setting, it will be much easier for the percussionist to keep the tambourine balanced dynamically with the rest of the ensemble and the part as written lends itself to aux percussion like the tambourine for that reason. If it wouldn't compromise your vision, we'd be more interested in a version of this arrangement with more variation in its presentation and less of a reliance on the original BGM. NO

This entry for DoD's Koji Kondo Month was so much fun! I really enjoyed the lyrical nod to the Rabbit Joint Cover during the LP and once again in revisiting the track for a vote. While I don't necessarily agree with the advice that you should mono and center your sub-150 Hz elements (we don't live in the heyday of vinyl record pressings for music distribution, where that was a technological necessity), I agree that the bass and drums can both pull back about 2 dB and the mix balance would be better for it. Ultimately though, I've got to side with my other Js. The "Águas de Março" quote is too long a span of non-VGM material for OCR, especially without a strong tie-in of the VGM source material during that segment. It's simply not in the letter nor the spirit of the Submission Standards. That doesn't change the fact that you've made a fun send-up of an OCR classic. NO

Larry already covered the major issues and while there is a preponderance of source material usage this time, the production quality is below the bar. Given this is in direct violation of our Submission Standards, namely 2.3, 7.1, and 7.2: And considering you weren't truthful or forthcoming about the usage of prompt-based generative AI tools in the creation of your submissions, I am no longer interested in being polite about them. Unless you plan on honing your craft as a composer, arranger, and mix engineer, shove this slop where the sun don't shine and never darken our digital doorstep again. NO

Larry already covered the major issues and the lack of source usage is more than enough to prevent this one from passing. Given this is in direct violation of our Submission Standards, namely 2.3, 7.1, and 7.2: And considering you weren't truthful or forthcoming about the usage of prompt-based generative AI tools in the creation of your submissions, I am no longer interested in being polite about them. Unless you plan on honing your craft as a composer, arranger, and mix engineer, shove this slop where the sun don't shine and never darken our digital doorstep again. NO

Larry already covered the major issues and the lack of source usage is more than enough to prevent this one from passing. Given this is in direct violation of our Submission Standards, namely 2.3, 7.1, and 7.2: And considering you weren't truthful or forthcoming about the usage of prompt-based generative AI tools in the creation of your submissions, I am no longer interested in being polite about them. Unless you plan on honing your craft as a composer, arranger, and mix engineer, shove this slop where the sun don't shine and never darken our digital doorstep again. NO

Larry already covered the major issues and the lack of source usage is more than enough to prevent this one from passing. Given this is in direct violation of our Submission Standards, namely 2.3, 7.1, and 7.2: And considering you weren't truthful or forthcoming about the usage of prompt-based generative AI tools in the creation of your submissions, I am no longer interested in being polite about them. Unless you plan on honing your craft as a composer, arranger, and mix engineer, shove this slop where the sun don't shine and never darken our digital doorstep again. NO

Larry already covered the major issues and the lack of source usage is more than enough to prevent this one from passing. Given this is in direct violation of our Submission Standards, namely 2.3, 7.1, and 7.2: And considering you weren't truthful or forthcoming about the usage of prompt-based generative AI tools in the creation of your submissions, I am no longer interested in being polite about them. Unless you plan on honing your craft as a composer, arranger, and mix engineer, shove this slop where the sun don't shine and never darken our digital doorstep again. NO

Larry already covered the major issues and the lack of source usage is more than enough to prevent this one from passing. Given this is in direct violation of our Submission Standards, namely 2.3, 7.1, and 7.2: And considering you weren't truthful or forthcoming about the usage of prompt-based generative AI tools in the creation of your submissions, I am no longer interested in being polite about them. Unless you plan on honing your craft as a composer, arranger, and mix engineer, shove this slop where the sun don't shine and never darken our digital doorstep again. NO

Larry already covered the major issues and the lack of source usage is more than enough to prevent this one from passing. Given this is in direct violation of our Submission Standards, namely 2.3, 7.1, and 7.2: And considering you weren't truthful or forthcoming about the usage of prompt-based generative AI tools in the creation of your submissions, I am no longer interested in being polite about them. Unless you plan on honing your craft as a composer, arranger, and mix engineer, shove this slop where the sun don't shine and never darken our digital doorstep again. NO

Larry already covered the major issues and the lack of source usage is more than enough to prevent this one from passing. Given this is in direct violation of our Submission Standards, namely 2.3, 7.1, and 7.2: And considering you weren't truthful or forthcoming about the usage of prompt-based generative AI tools in the creation of your submissions, I am no longer interested in being polite about them. Unless you plan on honing your craft as a composer, arranger, and mix engineer, shove this slop where the sun don't shine and never darken our digital doorstep again. NO

Larry already covered the major issues and the lack of source usage is more than enough to prevent this one from passing. Given this is in direct violation of our Submission Standards, namely 2.3, 7.1, and 7.2: And considering you weren't truthful or forthcoming about the usage of prompt-based generative AI tools in the creation of your submissions, I am no longer interested in being polite about them. Unless you plan on honing your craft as a composer, arranger, and mix engineer, shove this slop where the sun don't shine and never darken our digital doorstep again. NO

Larry already covered the major issues and the lack of source usage is more than enough to prevent this one from passing. Given this is in direct violation of our Submission Standards, namely 2.3, 7.1, and 7.2: And considering you weren't truthful or forthcoming about the usage of prompt-based generative AI tools in the creation of your submissions, I am no longer interested in being polite about them. Unless you plan on honing your craft as a composer, arranger, and mix engineer, shove this slop where the sun don't shine and never darken our digital doorstep again. NO

Larry already covered the major issues and the lack of source usage is more than enough to prevent this one from passing. Given this is only the second of two tracks flooded into our submission queue in direct violation of our Submission Standards, namely 2.3, 7.1, and 7.2: And considering you weren't truthful or forthcoming about the usage of prompt-based generative AI tools in the creation of your submissions, I am no longer interested in being polite about them. Unless you plan on honing your craft as a composer, arranger, and mix engineer, shove this slop where the sun don't shine and never darken our digital doorstep again. NO

Craig, this is going to sound blunt, even rude. You might feel insulted. The lack of identifiable source material usage alone would be enough to keep this track from passing the panel. Two brief, straightforward quotes from "Overworld" and half a verse's worth of vocal melody across a 4-minute song do not a ReMix make and no amount of goofy meta-narrative lyrics will change that. And frankly, it's questionable how much of this, if any, is your production. If the drums are indeed GarageBand Drummer, they need more humanizing (velocity variations, nuance, ghost notes, etc) so that the part doesn't sound like a string of loops from a MIDI pack. If the vocals are truly Ace Studio and not a hallucination from Suno, then this, too, needs more effort on your part to craft a believable performance, as Hemo mentioned. This is without mentioning the limiter settings or the warbly shmear on the instruments and vocals. That's all a hard NO right there. Assuming you made this track as you claimed to have made it in your comments on the submission, it needs a massive overhaul before it's ready to be posted here. We have no issue with the use of virtual instruments or effects that utilize machine learning (e.g. SWAM, Ace Studio, iZotope Ozone), provided the track's execution conforms to our Submission Standards (which I encourage you to read and familiarize yourself with if you wish to submit to us again in the future). But we don't allow generative AI elements in tracks at OverClocked ReMix, full stop. We're here to celebrate VGM as a human-created art form, not merely to provide a platform for content. HELL TO THE NO

Howdy Dav! Love me some "Cosmo Canyon!" You're probably going to think I hated your submission. proph's right that there's a big hole around 2kHz in the overall mix. On top of that, the lows and upper mids (50-120Hz and a wide bell around 5kHz) are boosted smiley face-style over the low mids, it looks and sounds like the mids have been artificially widened in the stereo field, and the track has several peak clips. The result is a muddy smear of a mixdown; none of the parts feel like they have a defined space in the soundscape, and they're all competing with each other for a slice of clarity in the upper mids bump. The production quality is too far below the bar for this to pass, even with the best possible interpretive arrangement. Which is a shame, because there are some highlights in the arrangement worth shouting out, namely the samba rhythms in the drums and the solo section at 1:36 that's a stylistic breath of fresh air. I'll echo proph's suggestion of more personalization on the melody line and a more definitive ending (the fadeout is fine, but a real outro would really take this to the next level). I can't say for sure that the recording quality of the parts is responsible for the mixdown, though -- it's hard for me to tell if the parts were recorded poorly or if the EQ and stereo widening are the culprit. In any case, this one needs a production overhaul before it's ready for OCR. If you haven't already, I'd highly recommend asking around in the #workshop channel on the OC ReMix Discord server or the (less active) Post Your Game ReMixes! forum for feedback. There's an arrangement with legs here, Dav; it needs some help getting those legs moving. NO (resubmit)

Never gonna forget this source tune and its mouth fart snare sound. Thanks for that, Garrett! 🤣 No qualms about the arrangement; the source is recognizable via the breakdown and the genre adaptation is solid. The sampled upright bass is exposed by itself in the intro; LT's right about it being in uncanny valley territory, and that the tone of it's otherwise solid enough. It definitely becomes less noticeable once the whole band comes in. I agree with proph that the snare can come down in volume a bit, though whether it could be dirtier is a matter of taste -- I like the dry pop this one has. The auto-pan effect in the D section could be narrowed some -- even in speakers, it's disorienting -- but it's not a dealbreaker. Like proph, I really dig the scratch work. It definitely helps secure the 90s East Coast hip-hop vibe. Overall, while there is some room for improvement with some of the production elements, we don't let perfect be the enemy of the good around these parts. Let's put this one up on the site. YES

In my previous vote, I felt the production issues that proph and Chimpazilla touched on were the only elements holding this track back from being posted on the site. And it sounds like those issues have been resolved! The arrangement was never in doubt. Between the new accompaniment approaches in the keys and bells, the string elements and vocals, and the clean electric guitar, there's plenty of personalization in this to sell an otherwise straightforward take on the source material. Nice work! YES

Man, this one is a journey. What a stacked month DS/3DS Month had to be for this track to not medal! As always, jnWake, the source breakdown is greatly appreciated; no questions about source usage here. If I have one nitpick, it's that I can hear a couple of spots where Tsori isn't quite as rhythmically tight with the band (0:30-0:32, 1:36-1:38) as he could be, but this is far from a dealbreaker. As dense and tricky as the production process likely was for this one, this is a very clean mix. YES