zircon

I agree with Larry on this one. This is very much the quality of many OCRemixes from a few years back. I think some of the sounds could be a little tighter to match the quality of the percussion/fx stuff - for instance, the lead 'pluck' distorted synth and the background organ-style pads. Try using EQs to sculpt the sound a bit more so the low end doesn't get quite as muddy for instance, and try to adjust the volume levels a bit so the harmony instruments (like the pad) aren't so loud. Finally, the bass kick sound is a little mushy when combined with the other low-end sounds; try to grab another sample, maybe something more acoustic to match the snare. I like some of the arrangement ideas here, but I'd love to hear more. More variations, more ideas, more changes in the beat. This is definitely not a bad mix. Tune it up and resubmit. NO

There are some interesting arrangement ideas here, but the execution and production aspects, both of which are pretty important in electronic music, are pretty lacking. One of the main issues I noticed is that the drum line is very basic and boring, in both sequencing, and samples used - honestly, these sound like FL default samples drowned in reverb. They're muddy, mushy, and extraordinarily overused. With sharper processing, such as intelligent EQing and compression, and layering with other samples, they might be OK, but in their current state, they are bland and unpleasant to hear. Consider throwing more variation and fills in the drumline as well. I realize this is trance, but you can easily do trance without repeating the same pattern hundreds of times, as many songs on this site show. The next problem I have is one that Larry had as well; the synths are really sort of lo-fi and uninteresting. They too sound like presets from FL generators - the very first thing I would do, right now, would be to head over to kvr-vst and download Superwave P8, Synth1, Crystal, and Ganymed, then preset banks for all four of those, for starters. Currently your synth sounds seem to be more bland and abrasive than musical and flowing, which I think are important aspects in a trance song. There's no easy advice I have for constructing good synth sounds, unfortunately - just experiment more with programming synths and emulating trance songs you like. There seem to be some bad notes around here as well. Starting at 1:01, the portamento lead tends to clash with the harmony, particularly at 1:23. It's not a good dissonance either - it sounds bad. These clashes continue to occur throughout. You don't necessarily have to alter the harmony/melody and progression this much if you don't want to. You can build original material off the source progression or vary the progression slightly and still have a good rearrangement. Bottom line; lots of issues all around. The arrangement is creative where the notes aren't clashing. Fix it up and resub. NO

Are you aware that this was posted before a panel or a standard existed? This would NEVER pass today.

This is a clean, well-produced mix that introduces just enough outside material to pass the standard, in my opinion. I can't help but think, however, that it's pretty boring. How many FF6 boss battle guitar remixes are there? I've heard too many to count, and none of them do anything particularly new or interesting. This one in specific has a stronger arrangement than the others, but I'm just a bit dismayed at the lack of creativity I've been seeing lately in this type of remix. A significantly changed chord progression, more variation in the rhythm, less generic rock percussion, more synthwork. I'd like to see anything that would make it more interesting. Nonetheless, I have no major objections, and am obliged to give a YES

I'm looking for male and female vocalists. Requirements include at least a DECENT recording setup (minimal fuzz/hiss) - no mastering software or anything. Female vocalists can be alto or soprano, preferably with a solid amount of experience, familiar with vocals used in electronic music (trance, dance, big beat, etc). Male vocalists have the same requirements; the voice timbre should be rough, edgy, deeper. Check out Legion of Boom or Tweekend by The Crystal Method for examples of the types of vocals I'm looking for. I'm willing to shell out a reasonable sum of money if someone is able to help me out here.

I do like the texture here, and the sounds are warm and well-used, but I think that the arrangement and structure is kind of lacking. There's very little progression throughout the song: the layers don't really change in a significant way, the drums sort of plod along, and the same chords get repeated over and over and over. Honestly, I think this could have been half as long and still gotten the idea across. There are some nice variations going on, but there isn't enough 'meat' to make the arrangement (and the mix as a whole) interesting. I like the chill feeling being attempted, but the static nature of the arrangement and sounds combined with their dry timbres to begin with don't hold up the mix. I'd like to see more done to spice things up over the course of the remix; perhaps a tempo change, key change, totally new instruments, a different chord progression, new drum layers, more improvised melodies, more background harmony, etc. I encourage a resubmit with some of these ideas in mind. NO

I like what I'm hearing in terms of arrangement and sounds, but that production.. ouch. Sounds like it was converted to mono, encoded to 96kbps MP3, then encoded again. I think that factor alone merits a NO here - please re-render directly to WAV and encode at something like 192-224kbps. Some of the instrumentus used here *are* a little bland, such as the handclaps and some of the more basic synths, but it seems like they've been used well, and that makes up for their slightly lo-fi character (which I may be mistaking entirely due to the mastering). Arrangement is great. Fix the encoding/mastering and resubmit - you're good to go. NO

Wow. A mix resubmitted from a decision years ago, that has been in the queue for over a month. Come on, guys! There's really nothing wrong with this mix if you ask me. The overall mixing is solid, the sounds are nice, and the arrangement is decent. There are some good ideas in terms of mixing up the original that I liked, and the whole package was generally enjoyable. Unfortunately, I simply do not think it quite meets today's standard. I believe this would have gotten on to the site if it was submitted a few years ago, but in its current state, it needs more. Perhaps some fresher and more dynamic sounds, a concrete ending, scaled-back repetition, and more variations in the rhythm section. With just a little more work I think this would be a great mix - please resubmit.. a little quicker this time NO

And my axe! (you've got me interested, I'll do several tracks)

I don't have much else to say here. I like the sounds, I like the arrangement for the most part (though it's a bit repetitive). Definitely add some more meat to it in the form of an expanded arrangement some new elements (eg. layered percussion) to make it feel more "full". I like the direction its headed, so just keep working on it. NO

Excellent effort due to the low amount of source material. The ideas here - dark ambient, groove drums w/ some breakbeats, a little industrial - are uncommon to remixes here, so the creative aspect is certainly good. However, the rearrangement factor plus good ideas alone can't really make up for some of the problems I thought existed in the execution of the mix. This is pretty clearly made in FL, as I hear a LOT of FL default samples and generators. Not necessarily a bad thing, but not only are some of these sounds overused, but they are outclassed by free sounds available all over the net on sites like kvr-vst.com and hammersound. The drums, for examples, are very dry (so is the pattern they play) and serve to do little more than keep the rhythm. The breakbeat drums that come in are basically an unaltered default loop from FL - I think it could have been used better. Try mixing it up a bit and rearranging the slices so it's not the same exact sound over and over. The Slayer guitar is also not very good, and neither are the pad-like instruments used to play the background chords. The robot voice effects also just make things cheesy, as Liontamer said. I want to repeat that I like where this is going. However, you need to work on polishing and refining your sounds and the usage of those sounds. For example, why make a boring drum pattern when you could have some sharp industrial drums contributing to the dark atmosphere you seem to be going for? As Liontamer said, the Remixing and WIP forums are the place to go for help on these subjects (you can also try the SoundTempest forums at http://www.soundtempest.net/forum/). NO

I don't think the samples are bad at all. What really counts is how they are processed and arranged. In this case, those two things are both done excellently. The arrangement here is refreshing, fun, and interpretive. The sounds themselves range from being solid to being psychadelic and eccentric, but certainly not low-quality. In particular, the pan flute lead is sequenced and processed well. Though the source isn't all that deep, DjOrange really took it and ran. This mix just goes to show that you can create a fun and enjoyable mix without having high-end samples. YES

Not a terrible attempt at orchestral, but clearly an early effort at the genre. The samples used actually sound pretty good - they don't sound like any free ones I have heard. What is really lacking is the orchestration itself. As Vig mentioned, the strings play some unrealistic parts, and there is not much attention paid to any sort of complex or interesting harmonies/instrumentations. The percussive parts are bland, and the other instruments don't blend realistically or cohesively. It's difficult to really articulate what I'm talking about - I suppose simply put, this sounds artificial to me. The arrangement is decent, albeit repetitive. I would like to see more original material and variation in here. There are a couple cool ideas, but they come and go quickly. You don't just have to keep repeating the same theme over and over. You can introduce your own melodic or harmonic ideas as well. You don't have to write entirely new sections, just go with the flow and make the arrangement your own. Production overall wasn't bad. The whole mix sounded sort of muddy and sonically cluttered, but it wasn't a huge deal. Try tweaking your reverb and EQ more to make the different instruments stand out from eachother. Sample quality sounds just fine, as I mentioned, and I don't think you need to worry about that. The arrangement and orchestration should be your main focus here. Good luck. NO

I'm going to have to agree with my fellow judges here. This is extremely repetitive with little development, little interpretation, and a bland arrangement. Production values, INTEGRAL to good electronic music, are severely lacking as well. Goa should have much tighter sounds, dynamic synths, not so much a 'wall' of sound. Needs a lot of work in all categories. NO

I think four piano arrangements are difficult to pull off to begin with because its too easy to just go over the top with massive chords and arpeggios that are not humanely possible. With piano music, the rule is certainly quality over quantity. If you're going to write a total of eight different parts (two hands per piano), it might make more sense to write an orchestral piece. I think that's where some of the weakness in here. Pianos are essentially being substituted for other instruments in the arrangement. Where a small bass ensemble playing marcato should be, we have left hand chords repeating. The piano is by nature an extremely expressive instrument and capable of creating massive sounds all by itself due to its resonant qualities. So, when you have four pianos and several parts playing the low registers, its nearly impossible to avoid the sonic 'mush' that others have noted. The actual interpretive factor is, however, very strong. This is clearly a unique arrangement and one that really takes the original and builds/expands on it. No major production faults - just a couple audio glitches where it sounds like some parts are getting 'filtered' for some reason. My problem is really the instrumentation. This arrangement sounds like it should be played by a symphonic orchestra or orchestral ensemble. By not doing so, the resulting sound is cluttered and lacking in finesse. Certainly not a bad mix, and I would not object if it was passed, but I believe the fantastic arrangement deserves a better execution. NO

Fantastic. I was kind of worried about the vocals at first, because vocal production is no easy task, but that was really pulled off well here. Larry just has a certain tone in his voice that fills up the frequency spectrum nicely. Lyrics are also tight, and I'd even go so far as to say "hot". Instrumentals are also really solid, with great execution + spread of dynamics. I thought the drums in particular were excellent, with a constant groove that never let up, even during some of the quieter sections. Overall, I thought this was a great rearrangement driven by Larry's powerful vocals. Don't think you could ask for much more. YES

Your volume in FL shouldn't be that low. I think you should pick up new drivers (eg. asio4all) and adjust the volume from there so that when you add a new instrument, it'll be of reasonable volume without tweaking. Besides the channel volume to the left of the channel itself, going to Channel Settings, the "Misc" tab, and then pumping up the volume knob will give you as much loudness as you need. A Compressor with high gain will also do the trick.

I have a few issues with this one. I disagree with Larry on the expansive factor of the arrangement. It sticks very close to the original melodically, with very little variation, and not much original material to spice things up. At 2:15, things start to look up, but that section doesn't really help as it doesn't last long enough. As Darkesword said, the same melodic riff keeps getting repeated over.. and over.. and over.. pretty much verbatim. The instrumentation and execution is OK - I would have advised less volume on the rhythm guitars, more emphasis on the lead, with light reverb/delay on it so it really cuts through the mix. But the execution simply did not bring anything new to the table. This mix is not quite a cover, but it's close; it simply doesn't have enough of a unique interpretation in terms of arrangement or style. There are lots of ways to make a guitar-centric mix interesting. Non-traditional instruments or playing styles, more synth action, creative processing tricks, variations in the dynamics of the song itself (rather than just the same type of thrashing throughout). Let me just make it clear that this is NOT a bad remix or a bad song. I enjoy it. However, it is not quite at the level of rearrangement that I would like to see, given this site's standards. I recommend a resubmit. NO

uhh.. well, we saw a very close call with Aetherius' DKC1 mix "Clouded Mind and Ringing Ears". That remix used ambient effects and created a soundscape sort of like this one does, but the original in the other case had FAR less melodic material. Here, you had plenty of stuff to work with. First things first; the drums (FL?) have got to go. They're not helping. The synths are buzzy and irritating. The ambient stuff is pointless. There's no cohesion here whatsoever between the different parts of the song, and what's there is just not executed well. I'm in completely agreement with Larry on the arrangement issues, too. Sounds like this is one of your first attempts. Don't be discouraged, just keep at it, and remember to use resources like our Remixing forum to help. NO

Yeah.. I like the original, and I think it's an under-appreciated soundtrack, but this really is lacking in a lot of areas. For one, while the guitar playing technique sounds solid, it's overly-distorted and poorly mastered. It sounds very mono too, as opposed to the wider stereo field of the rest of the instruments, which, on a side note, don't really fit in. Heavily overdriven guitar plus orchestral percussion and melodic instruments doesn't really seem to fit in this case. The orchestral parts themselves don't even do anything interesting, simply repeating themselves rhythmically and tending to play weird variations of the chord progression that end up sounding muddy and "blah". In addition, there is clipping throughout. I would suggest first finding a way to make this YOUR OWN interpretation. As is, it's not really different than the original - in fact, in pure sound quality, it's actually worse. If you're going to go with the guitar motif, clean that up, and then try adding elements that would fit more with the distorted sound. If you need help with these, the Remixing forum here is an excellent resource, as is the SoundTempest (http://www.soundtempest.net/) music resources/help forum. NO

Don't forget that FL has a wave editor built in. Go to a sample's channel settings and hit control+E to bring it up. It's basic, but it'll get the job done from within FL.

Tough call. I've heard a lot of revisions of this, and though it's gotten better each time, some of my complaints still stand. The major thing that I'm not fond of here are the drums. I just was not feeling a constant 'groove' even though there was a lot of variation in the drumlines. Most of the other elements of the song (synths, pads, bass) flowed well and fell into a defined rhythm, but the timbre and sequencing of the drums just didn't seem to fit the rest of the mix. However, there are a lot of strong points here. Very interesting uses of effects and soundclips, for instance, and the layering of the different instruments changes rather than repeating again and again (which, given the simplicity of the original, could have easily happened). The overall production is solid, and the arrangement is certainly strong. While there are some things that could be better here, there are enough positive aspects to outweigh the nitpicks I have. YES

I'm a big fan of this one since I first heard it. It's REALLY similar to Shnabubula in style, but has plenty of unique elements to make it stand out from that artist, and pretty much from most mixes I've heard. The original is abstract, as Gray said, but it's recognizable, and VERY well-arranged here. Awesome work!! The processing is not what one would expect, but it works given the style. It's quirky and edgy, while not overly so, and keeps a good dynamic level throughout. Execution is also creative and successful, with psychadelic synths, pitch bends, reverb, and percussion. It might not float everyone's boat, but it's really well-done, and you can hear how much effort was put into making evolving and mutating sounds that don't often repeat. Again, I want to emphasize that this is a really creative and great mix. I really have no problems with it. Great job, MN. YES

How you organize is up to you. I never leave empty patterns - I usually have one type of instrument per pattern, though. For instance, bass drums in one pattern, a fill in another pattern, hats in another, snares in yet another, etc. But it really depends. For some projects, I might want to consolidate more.

I believe in FL, the MIDI drumkit is assigned to channel 10 on your MIDI Out. You can't add reverb or delay in MIDI. You can try to simulate it by adding extra notes of lower velocities, though.