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I think this is a more general question about ear-training. Suzu is right, piano helps, but the heart of the matter is learning how to recognize intervals in songs; basically, the 'distance' between two notes. This means that yes, you should learn a little theory so that you know what a 'perfect fifth' or a 'minor third' means. When you can go from one note to the next and understand the interval, that makes it easier to put it 'down on paper.' For example, the first two notes in the main theme from Star Wars is how I remember what a perfect fifth sounds like. The first two notes in Taps (the bugle tune that plays during military funerals) starts off with a perfect fourth. The two-note theme from Jaws is a minor second. The list goes on. When I'm trying to figure out a song by ear, I listen for these relationships note-by-note, and I'm able to sequence a melody properly. Another thing that helps is being able to identify what key you're in and what kind of key you're in. When you can say, "I'm in a minor key," it's easier to know what notes are 'right.' And if you can say, "I'm in the key of C Minor," now you're really in business, because you've got a tonic/root that you can work off of, which gives you a better idea of what actual notes to use. So practice your intervals and learn just enough theory so that you understand the approach.

Uh, please don't do that. He's joking with you. There's a lot more to making a video game remix than that.

I think that'd make a lot of people happy. MAKE IT HAPPEN, CAP'N

note: this vote was edited after other Js voted, which is why it might reference later posts Not a bad arrangement; it's groovy and all the different themes fit together nicely without succumbing to the deadly medlyitis. I do have some concerns as to how conservative it is, particularly the section with Secret of the Forest. There are some nice harp and piano bits though, so I'll give you that. On the other hand, I'm not feeling too hot on these samples, especially the brass that comes in around :25, and then the strings that join in; there's really unnatural release there. Seems to be a lot of high-end throughout the mix; not a big deal. I think your layering of samples around 3:50 really hurts the texture of the piece; you've got violin with a buzzy synth and the mid-range gets crowded. After listening to this more though, I feel like this piece is really lacking in direction. It sounds a lot like some kind of long jam session going through the themes; it's not a medly issue, as the transitions work, but things sort of just plod along and coast. I can see what Andy is saying about the percussion plodding; although it's varied in terms of fills, the energy level throughout most of the mix stays the same. The real highlights are when you bring in the larger drums and step away from the kit. This is such a tough call for me, but I have to say that this piece doesn't seem to come together cohesively. Sure, the transitions get the job done, and the themes fit together stylistically, but from start to finish, it doesn't feel like it goes anywhere. NO (borderline)

Yeah. Also, go into your Quicktime settings (or browser settings) and kill that stupid streaming crap. I'll never understand why Quicktime does that stupid crap by default.

Bender's Big Score was hilarious.

Another piece that nicely rocks my socks in terms of arrangement. CV fans should get a kick out of it. Love the synth stuff, and the grungy guitars. I'm afraid I gotta agree with Larry here though; there's a messy, over-compressed sound that pervades the mix, and it's especially evident when those cymbals come in at the end. Not a fan in that respect. Unfortunately I'm gonna have to say NO. BTW I'm sorry to hear about your project files. That's a terrible thing to happen to anyone.

This is pretty fun to listen to, but ultimately it's way too repetitive for the 2:51 length, which is saying something. I don't find it that interpretive either. You've got a nice intro, and there's some harmony at the end there, but you've got to do more than that. Hell the interpretive stuff you had was a lot of fun, so give it another shot and go the extra mile or two. Right now it just chugs along. The only thing that stops it from getting annoying by the time it's done is the short length. In any case, I'm not sure I can speak to the production values of this, as I'm not, by any means, an expert on recording; perhaps one of our instrumentalist Js could give you some pointers. NO Oh and just so you know, my little brother Nabeel (12 years old) heard me listening to this and let me know that he liked it.

Is it just me, or is there a harshness that pervades this whole mix? The harp in particular in the beginning feels like it's got some kind of light distortion on it, and that ends up setting the tone for the whole track. I don't know if that's intentional or the result of some wonky mastering, but it sounds very strange in a track that sounds to me like it should have a very smooth sound to it. I don't know; the arrangement seems competent enough; quite a feat expanding on such short source material, but there are a lot of points in the arrangement where I feel like the percussion and bassline are disjointed, or rhythmically complex for complexity's sake. Perhaps that's a staple of the genre? It's a minor gripe about cohesiveness, but a gripe nonetheless. I'm ambivalent on this one. Gonna wait on what other Js to chime in, but for now, call me a NO.

Wow. Pretty grand opening you've got there. I never thought of this song in terms of a sweeping orchestral piece. I really like how you've interpreted the source tune here. There's a lot of the right kind of originality; you've taken the original themes and played with them just enough. Wonderfully orchestrated. The samples aren't the most amazing, but they certainly get the job done. Nice sequencing. I think this is great, and a perfect example of the kind of interpretive work we look for here at OCR. Nice work. YES

I love this. It's an amazingly awesome combination of synth and guitar. This kicks infinite amounts of shell. COWABUNGA

You guys like to joke, but seriously, please keep it in mind if your mix has recently been rejected. If it were as simple as tweaking a few knobs to make your mix passable, we wouldn't reject it; we'd give you conditional YESes and contact you about the issues so that we could get the mix passed. Getting a mix rejected means that there are issues with it that aren't quickly fixable, even if we put the word "resub" after the big NO.

Pretty sure it's because people are resubmitting way too fast.

My point is that I'd prefer people to comment on my mix in this thread, not start posting dumb crap like you've been doing continually since your first reply. Seriously, cut it out. It's really rude.

Why are you talking about this in my release thread? Go post in ReQuests or something.

I only know Reuben through his music. I never talked to the guy, never really interacted with him. What the hell am I supposed to say? "He was a great guy?" Maybe he was, but without firsthand experience, me saying that is disingenuous. I've heard he was a great guy, so that's all I can say. How is anyone supposed to pay tribute to the other aspects of his life if they know little about it? Honestly SCG, I've noticed that you tend to get indignant and upset on other people's behalf far too much, and tend to express those feelings quite vehemently. You're overreacting and getting angry at people for no real reason. Cut it out.

Just the other day I was listening to some music and one of Reuben's pieces popped up on my playlist; I said to myself, "Wow, who did this?" I made a note to definitely check out Rueben's music. While I didn't know him personally, I do know for sure that we've lost a great artist and a great guy. I'm sorry for your loss. Reuben won't be forgotten; not by a long shot.

Just wanna throw this in: private servers, despite the massive amount of them running, are illegal, so specific info pertaining to getting onto private servers (including links) is probably not allowed on these forums.

"Gee whiz, Mr. DarkeSword! How does the Judge's queue work?" "Well Timmy, sit back and I'll tell you!" There's always a number of mixes in our private forum at any time, given the fact that we are constantly receiving submissions. Larry posts mixes to our forum from the Submissions Inbox and we sticky the threads for mixes that have been on the panel for a while (month+), and mixes that are split decisions. Once a group of mixes is on the panel, we generally judge them in whatever order we feel like. I know I personally used to try to knock out votes for mixes of songs I knew well, and would save the more obscure stuff for later when I had time to digest the source tune (this is not so much the case anymore). One thing I do do these days is go for closeout votes first. If there's a mix that's already got two NOs (a 2N mix) or three YESes (a 3Y mix), I'll hit that first to hopefully get it out of the way. In any case, there is a priority system, in that we sticky older mixes first, and we generally encourage each other to vote on those older tracks, but there's nothing specifically in place that forces us to vote on those before more recent submissions.

This is really quiet..like...really quiet. Needs to be brought up overall, I think. I like your string work and the balance. There's a nice dreamy sound to this. The descending piano is tricky; there are a few times where the notes are repeated in succession with the same velocity, and that kind of breaks the downward motion of the line. I realize that may be part of the source, but you might be better served tweaking the velocities a bit. A minor gripe, but something that stuck out for me. New Age drums don't work. I don't think the kick is deep enough, and that tom sound you use sticks out too much, especially with the kind of reverb you have on them. The cymbal/tambourine/hat would be better if it weren't such a sharp sound. It cuts through the soundscape too much. The arrangement and interpretation isn't bad, though. Nice work on that. Gets to be a little aimless at times though; maybe that's characteristic of the genre? Work on the execution. NO

God these source tunes are so lo-fi. I hope someone smacked the guy who implemented these into the game upside the head. Anyway. Hm. Groovy beats, nice variation. I think the voice-clips usage is pretty neat, actually. Nice texture and synth design. Not too sure about the balance some sections; particularly 1:14, when the lead comes in, I feel like it's fighting for attention with the background wah-synth. It's a minor gripe. I'm going with YES (borderline); if any other Js have significant issues with production, I'm down with changing my vote.

Reverse cymbal is distracting and sticks out. Drums are too loud and the rhythm is awkward. There's not much balance between instruments; our pads and choir stick out too much. The string pads used as lead instruments have a really weak attack too. The arrangement is pretty aimless. I don't think you've made any effort here to find a hook from your source tune. You tried to write an "epic lullaby;" a lullaby needs to have some kind of memorable melody. This has none. I think you really need to head back to the drawing board on this. Analyze your source tunes, find the hook, and work around it. Hit up the Remixing forum and the WIP&C forum to get advice and feedback. NO

As of this moment, I'm also all caught up with the queue.

I suppose I should chime in on the revised copy? I've got NOTHING ELSE TO JUDGE, SO WHY NOT? Anyway, it's a solid piece of work and the production is cleaned up nicely. How 'bout dem trombones, eh? EH? YES

Chorused piano makes it sound like a pop version of "Walt Disney Pictures Presents: Animal Crossing: The Movie." I'm waiting for Peabo Bryson to start singing. This is a good thing. High strings sound a little shrill when coming in, but it all fits with the style and they settle into the soundscape nicely as the song progresses. Nice texture throughout, really laid back. Great harmonica stuff near the end! YES