zircon

AFAIK it was a normal appendix. The one attached to the small intestine that has no purpose.

FF1 was pretty hard for NES, imo. The PSX re-release and the GBA version are both sickeningly easy though.

They've since improved the procedure considerably. The operation took only about two hours, and it was performed laparoscopically - three minor incisions (two if you don't count the bellybutton) rather than one large one. No catheter, just an IV afterwards. The first 24 hours was definitely unpleasant, post-surgery, since even with morphine all the cuts hurt pretty bad. Plus, they had a breathing tube in for the surgery, which made it hard to talk and I was generally weakened and bloated (they have to pump the abdomen full of CO2 for the procedure to work). After that, it got better. I was on my feet by day 2 walking around a bit, IV was out on day 3 and I was released a total of 72 hours after I was first admitted to the hospital. I still have some ongoing pain, and embarrassingly, most of it comes from the CO2 gas that just floats around the body pushing up against nerves. You might guess what the only way to release it is. Oh yeah, and taking off the damn IV bandages hurt like a bitch also, because my arms & hands are very hairy and they just stuck the tape right on them. Anyway, I really appreciate the card. I really was speechless and just grinning as wide as I could. I'll be in this "recovery" phase for about a week (no lifting about 20 lbs, no junk foods, heavy relaxation etc) but I'm really OK now. Moral of the story: If you ever have stomach pain for more than a few hours, SEE A DOCTOR. Get a CT scan even if your blood tests come back normal. I have an ongoing stomach problem that has plagued me my whole life, and I thought this was just another bout, but because it had lasted 4-5 hours I wanted to be absolutely sure. They did a blood test, which normally shows the signs of appendicitis based on white blood cell count, which came back normal. The pain itself was not localized to the area of the appendix, again, indicating it had nothing to do with that. And when the doctor(s) pressed on that area, which is supposed to cause lots of pain, it didn't. Yet there was something slightly off on the CT scan, and another 5 hours later w/ another touch test, it seemed likely that it was an early appendicitis after all. Had I just walked out before getting the scan (which is unpleasant, but not terrible) or simply brushed the whole thing off as the result of too much junk food I might have been in a much worse situation than I actually was.

You know, the idea here is good, and the general instrumentation is too. The problem is the execution. Almost all the parts sound really unrealstic. This kind of acoustic sound in particular, with strummed guitar chords and Spanish-style brass, is really hard to pull off in MIDI. I wish I could give you a simple answer on how to improve them, but I can't. It's hard. Start by humanizing the note lengths and velocities so the parts "flow" together a little better. More reverb will help too. There is a distinct possibility you will also just need better samples than the ones you have - ones with more articulations and built-in variation. Hit the Remixing forum for more help on technique and samples. If you're finding MIDI to be just unbearable, start soliciting OCRemixers for performances! Even if they don't play the real instrument, they might have better samples than you, and could take your MIDI part and render/sequence it in a much more realistic way with their own samples. The arrangement is GREAT. I mean, it really is easily OCR-quality. The switch to 3/4 was fantastic. I like all the variation, original material, and subtle arrangement of the different riffs. The dynamic flow and energy of the piece is wonderful. So please, don't be discouraged and don't give up on this. Find ways to get those instrument parts to be more realistic and you will have one awesome remix on your hands. NO, RESUBMIT

Hmm... the last version seemed a lot tighter than this. The performances here are pretty sloppy, especially in the beginning, which is a total mess. Sound balance is better this time around, no big problems, though the kick could still be more audible/tighter sonically. Maybe use sampled drums or a drum replacement program. Larry pointed out that the volume is low overall, which I agree with. Some master track compression would help. As I said last time I voted, the arrangement is great. You guys definitely have that aspect down here. Honestly, if the performances were just better (the keys + drums were good), this would be an easy pass. One more time, guys! NO, RESUBMIT

You know... from personal experience, I know this is a tough source tune to mix. It's hard to take away from the rhythmic excitement that it has - all the syncopation, dramatic build, etc. Unfortunately, with this mix, most of that was lost. By 1:30 of the mix, only a few seconds of the original has been used. That's a little long of an intro... it's not until 2:03 that another part of the source is actually used. I actually do like the counter-melody at 2:33, as well as the variation of the main riff at the beginning and the end. Now try incorporating that kind of thing throughout the mix. More interpretation, more EXPANSION on the source should be your goal. Most of what you have is basically a simplification of how the original was arranged - more repetition, less rhythmic interplay between the different parts, and a texture converted from mostly orchestra to all synths. The production isn't too bad, though I do recognize a lot of the sounds & presets being used here. You might use less detuned, gated, and arpeggiated sounds and try integrating some acoustic stuff as well. Perhaps a breakbeat somewhere in there to break up the 4/4 club beat, a smooth lead to soar over everything else at some point? Either way, hit the remixing and WIP forums to help polish and refine what you have. A good effort - keep at it! NO

Vig and Larry pretty much nailed it... proper sequencing of "real" instruments is really important, especially if you're going to be using the samples in a very exposed context. If you check the Guides & Tutorials subforum in the "Remixing" category, check out my Compendium topic - I wrote a tutorial on this very subject. You might also look at the drum sequencing tutorial, as the drums here feel sort of out of place. Also consider the "flow", or dynamic structure, of your mix. If you skip around in the mix, the texture is very similar throughout. The same rhythms, the same instruments, roughly the same volume. Try to change this up by adding new layers as the song goes on, making some parts more dramatic and expressive, and others pulled back in comparison. The whole song should be going in some sort of direction, rather than just functioning like background music. I can make some vague connections to the original but overall I think it could be a little more obvious/overt. Also, the original had more than one section of melody and harmony. This mix seems to revolve around the same chords, riffs, and melody repeated throughout. The whole first part of the original does not seem to have been touched until the very end. Why not expand upon and interpret all parts of the original track? I am sure you will like the results. You did have some good arrangement ideas, as Larry pointed out. Keep at it and use all the resources available on our forums to improve your work. Good luck! NO

The opening synth in the intro feels somewhat cheap in terms of sound quality, or "thin" as several of the other judges put it. When things pick up, the production seems somewhat messy to me. The frequency balance is top heavy... lots of sizzle, hiss, and mud in the upper ranges. Lots of reverb & resonance does not help the situation. The drums are not quite as interesting as the chopped amen in the original, though the 3/4 fills were a cool touch. I would have liked more variation there, perhaps more breakbeat stuff - nothing WRONG with four on the floor, but when other parts of the track are very repetitive, it contributes in a negative way. The arrangement itself has some solid interpretive ideas, but the main part relies on repetition of the same hook a little too much. Sure the original was like that, to an extent, but even short source tunes and riffs can be expanded upon with some patience. The intro stuck to a straight-up interpretation of one of hte main riffs instead of rhythmically varying it, for example. The ending was also really abrupt. Even a generic de-layering of the different elements would have been better than a sudden stop, especially considering how the mix clocks in at just under 3:00. Though I have some production and arrangement qualms, the main criticism I have of this mix is the same one Vig has; it's similar in approach to the original, but simplified. Some of the sounds are upgraded to be louder and 'hotter', but overall, the texture is simplified and the interesting rhythms from the original are lost. IMO this is not far from our bar. Go for one more resub. NO

I updated it earlier today

You know, after I saw that video once, I watched it like 10 more times. I then bought 2 rolls of that flavor. Then another, later on. Then like 3 more over the next few weeks. The ONLY reason I did was because of the commercial, which I didn't even see on TV. They're not even that good, but I just feel compelled to purchase them.

Anyway, honestly, this is just more crap on the internet... don't take it seriously and don't get offended. OCR and its staff have both been badmouthed and trashed worse than this (and in a less amusing fashion). Locked.

let's type in lowercase with no end of sentence punctuation and use short paragraphs only it's the best way to be internet cool

Man, that was awesome. Candy breakfast (fudge-covered pretzels, peanut butter M&Ms, Berries & Cream starburst) followed by cheesesteaks on South Street, uber cake back at the apartment, Domino's pizza as a snack, and some cookies to top it all off (home-made, no less). I love you Jill! (And thanks again everyone else for the warm words)

I have to agree with the above posts... arrangement lacks some energy/direction, samples could be way better across the board. Cerrax is already working on fixing all this w/ a variety of collabs (including Sixto on guitars) but we might as well close this out. NO

The best thing to do is put a volume meter plugin on your master track to see what your loudest points are. Reduce your overall levels until you don't visually see any problems. But since your eyes aren't perfect, slap a limiter at the end to make sure you have no problems. With a properly configured limiter, you won't clip... period.

Haha, I like how about half the posts in my birthday threads always contain some sort of incredulity about my age. Thanks guys

This is something of a side project for me that I started a few weeks ago. The goal is to make 10 tracks featuring a variety of ethnic and electronic sounds mixed together tastefully, with the intent of usage in soundtracks/underscore. I'll be pitching it (when complete) to various people that might use it for those purposes, but I'll probably do some digital download thing too. All songs are short... 2-3 mins max, since it's mostly BGM style. Two complete songs: http://www.soundtempest.net/ET-1.mp3 http://www.soundtempest.net/ET-2.mp3 One wip: http://www.soundtempest.net/ET-3.mp3 Lemme know what you think, and enjoy!

Bonus track: Tingle

Thanks for the comments guys!!! Don't forget to write a review at www.cdbaby.com/zircon3 if you liked it. Also, "Breathing You In" just hit Track of the Week on Garageband.com's Trance category. Rock.

Straight-up dance adaptation here, not a lot more to say. While all the synths were generally OK, the rhythms were really basic for both the drums and synths. Very few changeups in that area - try varying up the drums more often to make things more interesting as the song goes on. In terms of sound quality, everything was OK by me except for the hi-hat which sounded very lo-fi. Try replacing that with something else. One way to personalize the arrangement is to write original material over the existing progression, or to put a new progression under the source tune melody (but vary it somewhat to fit). You can also try jazzing up the original melody and chords to expand on them. Either way, go for more. The production is good, and the soundfield is surprisingly full and enjoyable, so with a better arrangement you would be much closer to our bar. NO

I wouldn't say the samples in the originals were really "organic"... they sounded rather unimpressive to me. While this mix sounds marginally better (IMO) it still sounds a little on the fake side. pixietricks pointed out some of the issues I had. The swell at 3:09 is really nice, but for most of the mix things sound kind of flat to me. However, nothing is egregiously bad or fakey, and we have certainly passed mixes sounding less realistic than this. In short, I don't think there are any major production issues. Looking at some of those muddier areas that Larry pointed out would be wise though. The low volume thing you noted is no big deal. The orchestration was solid on the whole. One thing I did notice though was was the reliance on crashes to transition between sections. Sure, it's a good way to segue from one part to another, and I've even done it in my own mixes, but it felt like that was the main vehicle of changing from one part to the other for the entire song, and it was executed in a similar way every time. It's not really a major problem, looking at the big picture, but it's something that jumped out at me even on my first casual listen. The arrangement of the originals was, in my opinion, a little too close for comfort. The execution was very similar, and the general mood and style from the two sources was not changed. While there was actual variation and the addition of new material, it felt more like an upgrade to the source tunes, smoothing them both together, rather than an entirely new interpretation. When I jump around in the first source, for example, and then do the same in the remix, it REALLY feels very similar across the board. This doesn't sit well with me. I think in order for this to be at or above our bar, you should consider more drastic changes from the original in terms of tempo, instrumentation, rhythms, and overall mood. Until then; NO

Influenced by Monstrous Turtles!? Cool... well, I won't let that bias me. Hopefully. I really like the sound overall. From the badass rhythms, to the orchestral bits (pizzicato strings, YES), guitar, etc... everything fits well. 2:14 was REALLY cool rhythmically. Damn. Better than anything I had in Monstrous Turtles, anyway. The main production problem is the EQ work. Too much mid-high stuff, which crowds that range and makes it grating. That's a little ununsual, actually, since most people have muddy lows. In fact, I think you could even BOOST the low end more overall with some pad drones or a louder bass instrument. Either way, definitely cut down and filter some of those high instruments so it's not cluttered in the high ranges. Arrangement is great. I love the interpretation and structure. No problems whatsoever there. ASIDE from the EQ issue, I think this is a fairly easy pass. Yeah, there are a couple awkward harmonies here and there but nothing that would change my vote significantly. However, the grating high end is such that I don't think it's passable right now. I am going to vote conditional YES - just redo the mixing/EQ to correct the frequency balance and this is ready to go. YES (CONDITIONAL)

Yep, I heard the various revisions of this earlier on, and generally speaking I was feeling it. However I don't think I ever gave it a thorough listen (sorry RTF!) so here we go... I still really like the overall mood, which, like the original and Prot's remix of the same theme, is chill and atmospheric. The bass sequencing is something that really stands out to me, as well as the pads. Some might say the chiptune synths earlier on are too simplistic but I was OK with 'em. If they had to be changed, I would recommend some PWM or vibrato to make them more interesting on the sustained notes. All of the sounds in the breakdown were great though. I have to say I'm not the biggest fan of the drums now that I'm listening again. The rhythms are really simple, and the hats/snare are a little too grating. I think a more under-stated snare would have worked better, even a rimshot alternating with a normal snare. Switching up the hats to 16th notes would have been nice, and overall, more 'swing', syncopation, and fills (perhaps using toms) would have been nice. For example, the rhythm at 3:43 was really cool. More of that would have been good for the rest of the mix. Even layering in another loop later on would help a lot. While there's a lot of variation and cool original stuff going on, I think the arrangement is just a minute or so too long, which Larry touched on. So much of it relies on the same riffs and rhythms that it feels repetitive once the chiptune breakdown returns to the main melody. The ending is also a little on the long side. There are lots of good things to talk about here, such as synth design, mood, overall interpretation, breakdown, and so on. But the drums and somewhat repetitive arrangement bring it down a little below the bar. With maybe 30 minutes of work I know you could easily push it back up. Go back to it for just a little more NO, RESUBMIT

AS, my homie. Trim yo' beard. As Larry mentioned, the DNB elements are a little weird at first. I think they could be "tighter" rhythmically, particularly the drums, which threw me off a bit at the beginning. The mix seems to be a little muddy too at times, especially in the parts that were filtered... some low/low-mid EQ would fix that easily. The lead at 1:36 is too loud and annoying IMO, which is a similar problem that you had in an early revision of your Chocobo mix for the FF7 project. More vibrato/filtering, less legato, more movement to lower octaves. Besides The original is pretty recognizable here, but I think there is something of a disconnect between the source, the variations, and the new material added. The chords/melody are already changed up, but the new stuff really sounds nothing like FF9 or the source at all, in terms of mood/feel. Maybe tethering that stuff back and making it a little less spastic would help. I liked the soft piano/strings ending, which was a welcome change of pace, with some more pleasing variation. Integrating that KIND of arrangement earlier would have been cool. This is close to a pass. A less chaotic interpretation with original material that is a little closer to the source, slightly redone mixing/sound design, and maybe some additional harmonies to beef things up would put this above the bar. NO, RESUBMIT

(CONSOLIDATED VOTE) I'd like to comment on production first... while I like the sound design, seems like a lot of the elements are "brittle". They have a lot of mid-high, not too much bass, but not too much actual high end. This could be because of the encoding, I'm not sure. But ultimately, it doesn't sound very good and makes the track a little grating to listen to since the volume level is rather consistent for most of the song. Maybe go a little easier on the compression, re-mix/EQ it, and then maximize it again after. I say to go easier on compression because the drum parts in particular were too punchy IMO. Synth/sound design was pretty good throughout, though I'm not a fan of all the detuned trance-y sounds.. they don't seem to fit in the style that well. Why not try some smoother sounds instead? Overall, not a dealbreaker, but it would help to remove some of the harshness of the mix I think. BTW, love the chanting. Sounds like the Borg. Structurally speaking the mix is somewhat repetitive. The same bassline is repeated throughout much of the mix, and there are no major tempo, key, or textural changes. This might not be the end of the world (see: our recently posted GSlicer mix) BUT... the arrangement is too liberal. For more detail please see my post lower in the thread. Even if the production were 100% OK this does not make enough clear, direct connections to the two sources for it to meet our standard. NO