zircon

Unfortunately I have to agree with Larry... the level of arrangement here is not quite up to our bar, though I don't think he is giving enough credit. I was definitely hearing some good interpretation throughout, such as in the extra harmony played by the saw underneath the melody in the first part of the mix, and the section at 1:14. If you just added a little more original material, varied up the chord progression from the source, maybe changed around the arpeggios or melodies from the source (rhythmically or melodically) you would definitely be able to get this to pass. But as is, a lot of the riffs are just used verbatim with little to on changes to anything. EG. At 2:35 why not change the chord progression to something else with a new bassline? Then maybe add your own melody on top. After the key change, you could really take the primary "Thicket" melody in another direction with some cool synth solo stuff. You don't necessarily need to change the entire thing. Maybe start a passage with something unchanged and develop it into something new before returning to the original format. There are a lot of things you can do, and I know you're skilled enough to do it. I do really like the texture and production. Creative breaks/dnb type sound, nice job varying the beats, smooth mix (I would have used a different snare than a 909 though.) No complaints there! This is really enjoyable and it will stay on my playlist. I think you are not that far from being at our arrangement bar. Rework that aspect and resubmit!! NO, resub

Wow, this mix has such a creative texture! The combination of swirling pads, strings, and atmosphere is wonderful. Your production is great overall; clearly you know how to properly implement and polish your sounds. As for arrangement, the two source tunes are combined and interpreted skillfully and seamlessly. My only complaints are that the mix could be slightly louder (maybe with a bit of bass skimmed off), and that the ending could have been extended slightly to ring out more, but these are definitely minor. YES

The brass right at the beginning sound pretty fake IMO. They're dry and up front, which makes them sound even worse; more reverb, and maybe trying some different samples (or simply layer other soundfonts on top) might help. The other elements in the intro seem OK. At :38, the marcato strings also sound fake. I would vary your velocities more so it's not hitting the exact same way EVERY time - this combined with the simple beat makes the section lack energy right off the bat. The return of the fake brass is no good, unfortunately, as it makes everything sound cheap. You might have to use more synths for your leads or try different instruments to really fix that. Conceptually, I like where you're going; the combination of sequenced beat with dramatic orchestral motifs and synths here and there. However the execution is somewhat weak overall. It's not bad, but it needs to be better to pull this off. The beats throughout lack momentum, and while the orchestral parts (brass aside) are solid, the other elements fail to match up. More interesting rhythms in the drums might help, or possibly "bigger" sounding samples. Maybe some 16th note percussive lines. The build-up right at 2:33 is a good example of where the energy is increasing noticeably. However, at 2:52, instead of something even more powerful, it's back to the basic beats and lame brass. Towards the end the beat sequencing gets more interesting with some nice 'drills'. More of that plz! With regards to arrangement, the level of interpretation struck me as the right direction, but a few things. First, I felt that there might have been too much reliance on source material for a piece of 5+ minutes; you could easily replace some of the repetition with instrumental solos. Much of the original material you added was rather basic, IMO, and didn't do a whole lot musically. Additionally you seemed to stick pretty close to the melody and rhythm of the source tune whenever it was used. I would go a bit further and add new counter-melodies or lead harmonies, change the rhythms, and generally do more to arrange the fundamental components of the source. Also, I think the length here is an issue... this has a lot to do with the lack of energy in the parts that should have been more powerful, but in general things seemed quite stretched out. Definitely a great effort if this is your first fully "realized" piece in Reason. You're on the right track, now just go back to it and refine. NO

Your snare is more resonant and ringy than the original, which sounds more like a more highly tuned, 'deadened' snare common to funk music. Your hats are too defined and slightly too high pitched in comparison, probably due to the lesser audio fidelity of the original. Honestly in my experience it's better to just get the right samples than try to futz around for hours with one that just won't work. The Goldbaby set would be great for this kind of thing, I'd imagine. As it's all re-sampled at 12 bits through an MPC (or was it 10?) by nature it's gonna sound closer to the lo-fi original recording. The kick.. that's a tough one... it lacks a lot of low freqs, and it has a decent amount of air, but it's definitely more of a dead 'thwap' rather than something with a rounded body. This is more a matter of just getting the right sample. Sorry I can't really be more helpful. Again, speaking as someone who loves the old school drum sound... I find the only way to really GET it is to get samples of it!! Processing modern samples is never the same.

Thanks for all the comments guys, I missed some of these more recent posts. Glad you like it!!! For those of you with iTunes, it's now available there if you just want a specific track or two. Just search 'zircon'. Putting in 'The World Circuit' will bring up more results than you need...

"It depends" is the best answer... intent is a key factor in determining infringement. A court will be much less lenient if they can prove you were intentionally trying to rip off another work. If you just coincedentally ended up sounding like something else, they will be more lenient - though there is a point where the songs are so close they may say "this is too much for coincedence to account for."

I think you're using the term "loophole" incorrectly, a loophole is when you exploit something in the law to do something that might otherwise be illegal, but due to the loophole, is not. If someone broke into your car at night and stole your CD player, I wouldn't say that they "found a loophole", I'd say they committed a crime and just haven't been caught yet. Anyway, I emailed this guy's record label to bring the issue to their attention. If they reply with indignance or if they say they don't care, I'll say something ot the effect of, "Then you won't mind if I tell all the producers I know that it's OK to rip off songs from your label, not give you credit, and not pay you royalties. Thanks!" EDIT: Mustin beat me to it.

Yeah, it's just illegal, straight up.

Is that stepmania video played by someone w/ a dance mat or with their typing keyboard?

We'll see...

I disagree with Larry, in that I didn't think the drums here were really all that bad in terms of the samples themselves. Sure, they're not the greatest, but they don't sound that much worse than the free stuff that's available. I think the problem I have though is that the percussion does very little besides keep the tempo, aside from the Zelda section; some more creative patterns and fills using more of the drumset (toms, rimshot, cowbell, etc) would have been much appreciated throughout. For example, the cemetary section sounded rather dull and exposed because it's going so slowly and the rhythms aren't really subdivided. I would consider maybe adding some lightly processed drumloops on top and/or ethnic percussion to keep things interesting. Aside from the percussion, I thought the arrangement was creative, the performances tight, and the production generally solid. However, the drums simply drag the rest of the mix down a bit too much, so I would like to ask you for a resubmit here. It should be very simple to improve them, maybe 15-30mins of works improving the detail. Feel free to try different samples also, though again I didn't think that was a major issue (it would certainly help.) You might also consider adding additional instrumental parts to fill in some of the more sparse sections of the arrangement. For example, maybe a harp here and there, or some light piano chords before the cemetary section. Sometimes when you only have the guitar going, things sound dry and centered, which detracts from the bounciness and energy of the track. Good job so far, just a little more work and this will be ready to go. NO, RESUBMIT

Haha, we're all glibbing this. It's good enough that not a lot needs to be said. If Harry Gregson-Williams were rescoring FF7 this really would be what it would sound like. Tense, great production values, intelligent and creative mixing of electronic and orchestral elements. A wonderful & full expansion of a very simple source. Good job! YES

Not to be overly nitpicky, but I'm not sure if the full prelude intro was really necessary here... considering how challenging it is to play, and the slight flubs throughout, it needlessly exposes the solo guitar and since it's just 1:1 with the original, it doesn't add a whole lot. I would consider at least adding some backing pads to make it a bit more interesting. Otherwise, I have to agree with Larry. This is a pretty simple FF1 medley that, while enjoyable in its own right, does not really interpret or arrange the source tunes in the sense of the OCR standards. More expansive and interesting arrangement would be needed for this to pass, as well as better transitions. Also, the production seems a bit plain at times.. if you listen to any live-performance remixes posted here within the last year you'll hear that they generally sound pretty polished. We don't expect everyone to have $50,000 pro studios, but some additional EQ work to fill out the frequency spectrum, compression, and a bit of reverb/delay sweetening would give this extra sparkle that certainly wouldn't hurt. I look forward to hearing a resub of this or other remixes from you guys. Even if this particular sub isn't fit for our guidelines, it's still fun. NO, resub

I can see where Larry is coming from on the 'distant' thing - the guitars and drums are ultra-close and huge, while some of the backing parts are heavily reverbed and thus sound unusually distant (eg. :11). Not really a big deal though as the important stuff is up front, but I would try to level out the reverb among your different parts, some just seem to have too much, while others are very dry. I also think the compression here is excessive. The exposed, super-compressed guitar (eg. at :39) sounds like its clipping - very digital, nasty distortion IMO. I would have cut back on the maximization slightly, for sure. Despite having run an entire FF7 project, I can still appreciate the arrangement ideas here. Very nice integration of all the different themes, excellent performances, original additions, and so forth and so on. Much like norg & SnappleMan's "Full Frontal Assault" from the VotL project, this remix is an excellent example of how you can do a high-octane rock/metal track while not being coverish at all. Really my only complaints are with regards to the production; to reiterate, too much reverb on some of the parts (some of the synths), and too much compression. However these are not significant enough issues to merit a no. YES

I agree with Darke on both counts, that the sequencing is a bit too mechanical, and that there is something of a lack in dynamics. Right off the bat you've got lots of string sustains, the same rhythms over and over, and a 'wash' of a texture overall. The different parts tend to be rather homogenous, rhythmically. I would have liked to hear interesting things happening in the different voices, rather than most of the instruments simply playing out chords for the lead(s). For example, there's not much of a bass presence - why not use a double bass pizzicato or staccato doubled by piano and/or tuba/french horn? There's all sorts of stuff that you could do. I think part of what makes this sound not as realistic as it could is in fact the way its orchestrated, not just the sample usage. More dynamics overall and more interesting part-writing would REALLY help. As is, while I like the interpretation of the theme, as a standalone musical piece I don't feel like it is really passable - it does sound too much like BGM. Some additional work on the material you have *now* to make it more exciting and varied on a part-by-part basis would definitely help put this above our bar. NO, RESUBMIT

Bah, I had a whole vote written out for this and I closed the window :[ I'll summarize: * Great concept, stylistically similar to doujin arrangers (eg. SSH) * Creative instrumentation - loved the chip synths * A little too much high end in the mix, and snare was a bit loud as well, but otherwise great production * Well thought out structure and dynamic contour * Excellent arrangement! Kudos for remixing Eternal Champions, and good job overall. YES

Fun fact: Over 50% of the site staff now resides in the northeast United States, primarily in the N.E. corridor.

This has a very pleasant texture. I could imagine this as underscore to another FF7 spinoff film, or perhaps some sort of interlude scene in a remake. Either way, I think you did a great job conceptually. That being said, Larry is right that when it comes down to the actual interpretation of the theme, there is not quite enough of it for our standards. Overall, you basically have simplified and/or stretched out the original theme, moving it through different instruments. Very enjoyable, but consider any of the following to really meet our arrangement requirement: * Variations to the main melody (eg. starting with the source melody and going into an improvised new melody) * Variations on the chord progression * Rhythmic changes to the theme * Key, tempo, and/or time signature changes * New original melodies on top of the existing progression * New harmony elements Additionally, the repetition is something of an issue as there are really no differences between the latter part of the track and the first time we heard it. You could definitely add more without sounding too 'heavy'. I strongly suggest listening to spacepony's "Super Mariocean" as that style is VERY similar to yours, and it might give you a better idea of what you can do with a simple theme in a light mood to properly meet our guidelines. NO

Just to clarify, the QUEUE certainly ain't down to zero. Larry has voted on every mix, but the same can't be said of... well, any of the rest of us.

...Palpable and CHz! After an extensive search, these two nobodies emerged victorious from our signature Judge Candidate Testing Process(™). Where did we even find these guys? Anyway, congratulations to y'all and I bid you welcome to the panel, officially!

Just sent you a message, check your PMs.

I do a lot of writing for underscore, so I think I'd be interested in this, but the MP3 link isn't working! Once I hear it, I can get a demo to you and see if you're liking it, and we can go from there. Also, perhaps you could give a little more detail about the project; is this playing on TV, in theaters, straight to DVD/VHS release, internet only, etc? Would this be a buyout license or would we keep the rights?

You mean Edison? Since when do you need to save new waveforms after editing them? You just drag and drop right back into FL. More specifically, it saves the dragged sample automatically - you don't need to choose a place on your HD or name the file. Regardless, the amount of work needed is roughly zero.

The frequency balance sounds weird here, like there has been a filter applied. The treble is particularly heavy and there's not a lot of low/low-mid energy. This makes the entire mix sort of grating as a result whenever there are any instruments playing in the higher register. I think this should not be posted unless the frequency spectrum can be properly balanced; the highs are just too heavy. The melodic instruments are at times overshadowed by loud percussion (especially the blistering hi-hats), another mixing issue that I think needs to be addressed. Generally speaking, the volume level could be boosted via some light maximization.. not nearly as big an issue, though. Overall, I think the interpretation of the various source tunes is good. Some parts stick closer to the original than others. I really liked how "Action" and "Another World" were handled. In general, this mix sounds like a film score version of the music from these game(s). In some ways, that could be seen as a good thing. In this case, though, I don't think it really works as a standalone ReMix. Things jump around too much - that's OK if you're setting music to picture, but the abrupt transitions/ending and "medleyitis" that the other Js brought up just don't sound right in the context of a song that should just flow from beginning to end without the need for visuals. Had I not watched the gameplay footage you linked to, I think I would have understood this (musically) considerably less. If the mixing/mastering is reworked and fixed, and the arrangement is adjusted to feel less like a collection of film score cues, I think this has a great shot at passing. The interpretation is certainly all there, and the production is good aside from the mixing issues, but it needs to stand alone musically before I would be able to pass it. NO