zircon

Is it just me, or are all the ReMixes we get of this tune kinda... similar? I can't shake the feeling that I've heard this one before from someone else. Oh well. This is not a big departure from the original. You changed around the instruments, but there's a limited amount of new or varied material. If you're doing your own unique interpretation you need to try to go above and beyond merely recreating an alternate version of the source tune, which is how this mix is sounding to me. The production isn't a whole lot better as it's pretty basic and there's an over-reliance on effects (mainly delay). The ReMixing forum would definitely be the place to go. You might want to start with the tutorials I've written, several of which cover the issues you are having here (realistic instrumentation & general production values). All of the finer details aside, try to look at the big picture. Most game tunes, this one included, were written primarily as BGM. A proper ReMix however should really stand alone as its own song. There should be some sort of change and sense of dynamics throughout the song. Something should be there to hold the attention of the listener. An OCR-level interpretation will have these things. NO

Pick up the RSN on SNESmusic.org rather than zophar. The original is track 2 (well, "102") on there. Ok, I had to listen to this one a bunch of times and compare it to the original to feel comfortable writing about it. The reason being, I wasn't hearing a really solid connection to the original in some parts of the mix. A lot of the chords in the remix don't seem to be related, and I couldn't easily hear the melody from the source being used. The arpeggios that are present in both serve as the best link between the mix and the original that I can find. From a production standpoint, some of the stuff here is 'bleh'. The percussion is pretty mundane for the most part, and the way the string parts are written makes them seem unnatural. When they are sustained, they sound OK, but the way the voicings change doesn't sound realistic to me, and it's a jarring effect. Also, you have the sustained strings going basically the ENTIRE time and that's really just not a good idea. They're not interesting enough timbre-wise to merit that much attention. In terms of things that were done well, the harmony instruments like the chime/bell-type sounds and the synth arps were effective. However, overall, I think the production could be better. Tweaking your existing sounds and adding some new, varied ones would be a good idea. Looking at the big picture, I don't think this has enough going for it to pass. The structure of the song is not great (overly sparse in some parts, not focusing enough on the main melody, 30 second fadeout as an ending) and the arrangement just doesn't click, in my opinion. There are some assorted production problems as well. While no one aspect of the mix is particularly problematic, it needs work across the board. Keep at it and resubmit. NO

I hate to say it but I don't really have a lot to add either. My best advice for trying to make things more interesting would be to change rhythms more. Don't just play the melody back verbatim. Change the lengths of the notes, add some grace notes or triplets in there, perhaps write in a little riff during a rest, stuff like that. Also, use more interesting harmonies than just sustained notes played on pad-like instruments. Arpeggios can work well. Even a one octave trill would make things more exciting. As is, there is very little reinterpretation going on here. In addition some of the notes sound wrong when you hold the sustained notes in the harmony. I would go back to that and make sure everything fits together. NO

The original is really minimal. Reminds me of Earthbound - there's not much more than a couple riffs and chords. I can see what Larry means about the instrumentation not really being explored. The timbres are pretty similar to the original. The synth choir staccato chords don't add a whole lot when they're exposed, IMO, but once the beat comes in, they fit in quite a bit more. On that note I gotta say I'm impressed with the drums! They're very good. You could have been a little more creative with the patterns ASIDE from the main groove, I think. For example, 2:06 is just boring with that basic four on the floor bassdrum pattern, and that continues for quite awhile. It was a relief when the main groove returned. I gotta agree that the ending is a little on the weak side (because of the drums) but aside from that the ominous pads resolve things nicely. In comparison to the original, I do see this as an improvement, but it is a little too close for comfort in a lot of ways. The instrumentation for example is pretty similar. The synth vox in the remix plays the same way that the synth pad does in the original. Nothing is really done to the chord progression as far as I can hear. The most notable addition in the remix would be the breakbeat percussion, I'd say. This is a tough decision for me. The production values across the board are solid, though like I said above, more creative synth design would be nice. My main concern is that this is too similar in concept and execution to the original. I remember awhile back someone subbed an Ultima Online remix that was done with medieval instruments. It had some basic arrangement, but it sounded a lot better overall. However, I rejected that mix because I felt like it was more of an "upgrade" of the original (which also had medieval instrumentation and a similar structure) than a reinterpretation. So, I'm going to continue with that precedent. NO However I would like to see a resubmit. I recommend being a little more daring with your interpretation, whether that means changing chords, notes, and rhythms, or making the palette of synths more varied.

While I haven't really been able to help with the vid stoof, I can tell ya how hard pixie has been working on it, and her efforts have finally paid off: EPISODE 053 (W/ MULTIPLE DIFFERENT VIDEO ENCODINGS) WILL BE RELEASED TONIGHT AT 11:00PM! Don't forget the popcorn.

R3FORGED is awesome. I was so happy when I first heard this track. We don't get many good straight-up trance/hard dance subs, and those that we do are usually from people I already know. So, to see a new face submit something far above the bar just made my day. Rock on!

I like the production here. The sounds are all clear and smooth, the mixing is good, and the beats are solid. I do, however, agree with Larry that you probably could have done with more changeups to the percussion, or at least ones that are more obvious. When you're using a 4/4 beat it's pretty important to do that so that the listener doesn't get bored. Arrangement-wise, this is on the simplistic side. I like the general direction you're taking it, but try to add more of your own interpretation in some way. Vary up the melody, add your own melody, change the chords, write some original material in there... there are a lot of things you could do. Just don't rely on that same riff over and over! I would like to see a resubmit after more work is done on the arrangement & structure. NO

I may not play anymore, but simple logic can be used to see why that makes no sense. The best greens available at level 60 don't beat epics and blues that are lower than that, in the 50s, thus there's no reason to expect level 70 greens would be tier 2 epics.

I dunno, the production is at least solid. There's some automation going on, variation in the percussive patterns, decent synth design. I wouldn't agree that it's "underwhelming" aside from the drum samples being rather generic. However, I do think that throughout the course of the song, the texture is too plain. What I mean by this is that basically you have the same type of sounds throughout, even if you're making small layering changes. If you listen to stuff by, say, bLiNd, sgx, binster, or tefnek, all of whom make pure electronic mixes, there's more sonic changes going on. In this mix, there's very little difference between the synth sounds from one part to the next, or even from one sound to another. To me, this makes the mix a lot less interesting than it could be. There are more sounds than detuned saws! In regards to arrangement, I like what you did with the source, but the structure could be better. It's hard to say where the beginning, middle, and end are. Skip to 1:10 and you've got a nice big melody going on there with the beat in the background. At 1:45 it's a similar soundscape. 3:04 the bass isn't moving around, but again, there's about as much going on. In short, there's not much progression here. From a purely technical standpoint you did rearrange the theme, but looking at the big musical picture, it's done in a way that isn't engaging to the listener, in my opinion. Don't be dissuaded from submitting here again. This is a good track, and it's not far from our standards. Keep at it and you'll get a mix on this site before long. NO

Hey just so you guys know, Snapple's my friend but I don't agree with that one statement. Then again I don't really take him seriously a lot of the time.

I've never used a Groovebox, so I wouldn't know... but it seems like just a powerful synth w/ keyboard to me rather than a drum machine with some addons.

HE WORKS FOR BLIZZARD

No, GPO uses GPO samples. It uses the Kontakt player, however, which has DFD capabilities. Now, DFD depends on having at least a decently fast rate of data reading, which I don't think you're going to get from a CD drive.

You got it. I'm always lowercase, yo.

Uhh... I think in theory it's possible, but I REALLY doubt DFD streaming would work.

I dunno if this would beat out the V-Synth... that things a monster. But it IS very cool nonetheless, and yes I want one. edit: I played one in a music store today w/ headphones and it is in fact a great synth overall. The keys feel like Edirol keys (synth action, but not cheap), the knobs are fun to tweak, and the patches for the most part were most excellent. I especially liked one called "Euphoric Lead" which was a really phat trance lead - just messing around with it (after applying some cutoff modulation) inspired me to create a melody.

Already updated the first post w/ the voting info; I don't think we need to make a new thread. Lemme know what else should be in there.

Yeah - that couldn't be helped. We wanted to keep in all the reactions from the audience in there during the medley to preserve the live feel, you know? The videocast WILL have better audio for that however, so don't worry.

Uh.. if your memory dies after only a few effects in FL, that's pretty bad. But I don't think that should happen. Tweak your computer's settings, disable background programs + services, and you should be fine. 512mb is low but not unusable. You can always use DFD (direct from disk) streaming as well as well as bouncing audio to disk to save your RAM. Also, yeah, QLSO Silver and Gold are really solid for the price range. It's hard for me to recommend anything else besides those and GPO.

Try enabling Fixed Size Buffers and Rendering Mode Notify in the wrapper for K2.

Hey! I just wanted to thank everyone here for voting this month. Not even a week ago we were considerably behind, but we put out the call and you guys responded in force. We are now back to #1 in Music/Radio and gaining more and more of a lead each day. So, once again, THANK you!

Honestly, the $50 one is nearly useless. You really should save up and go for the $150 if anything.

Episode 052 of VGDJ (OCR Otakon Panel) has been released, and is now available at www.vgdj.net! This is a special episode of VGDJ, so most of our normal content isn't in it, but that's just because we've got so much material from the panel itself. It's a blast!

The mixing seems very weird here. It's like the accompaniment is in front and the melody is in back. The percussion tends to be a little on the overpowering side (what's up with the ridiculous bass drum lines at the beginning?) I think going back and redoing all the levels would be a good idea since right now the mix seems muddy and sloppy at times. In terms of arrangement, I'm in agreement with Vig that there are enough nifty ideas to make it passable. However, the execution of it is weak. Go back and work on the production aspect more and take another look at the production sequencing. Also, some of the transitions from section to section could be better, such as 2:39 to 2:40. What's up with that? Polish this and resubmit. NO