DarkeSword   Administrators 🎮

I like the stuttering effects throughout the song, but I think that it ends up being more of a gimmick to carry the the empty parts of the mix. Not much going on here harmonically either. Needs more. NO

Yeah there are some really weird composition choices here. The arpeggio in the background doesn't fit into the song at all harmonically. It's a repetitive mix with some blah synths. Could be better. NO

Larry I don't think that "samey" is a real word. I've got to agree with Larry on the vocals. Your voice gets nasally and sounds pretty amateurish when going up to the higher notes. The accompaniment is pretty repetitive too; not much variation. It's there, but not much. Nice production though. borderNO

Oh man, I love that smooth bossa nova feel. More people need to work in this style. Guitar work is really clean and competent. Balance and production is really nice; good choice of sounds. I liek it~! YES omgbossabias

I love the source tune to this song. That said, it's not a bad remix, but Larry pretty much sums things up. This is an upgrade with tricked out drums and some decent synths. Needs way more interpretation to work on OCR. NO

Guitar playing sounds really amateurish. You don't sound very confident playing those melodic lines; it's very apparent from the timing issues. The arrangement here is pretty much the same as the original tune, with a completely unrelated solo shoved in the middle. When soloing, you should try to at least play with the melody of the original, or at least use the chord changes of the source tune. NO

Flute lead is way too quiet, and the arpeggios in the back get old fast. The strings lack any kind of definition. The whole thing drags on. NO

Pretty solid mix, though I wish there was more variation in the percussion, and more of a contrast in the soundscape. A lot of the sounds are pretty buzzy, and some smoother sounds would have worked really well. That's more of a personal taste thing in this case though. Nice. borderline-YES

So, where's the rest of the mix? I mean, it finally builds up and then just ends. Sounds like and extended intro, not a full piece. The drumkit you're using doesn't fit with the dreamy feel of the mix either. The snare is too dry. NO

Reminds me a lot of the Metroid Prime soundtracks, though with more focus on melody. I really like the texutre here, and I think that your sounds are working really well together. Acoustic sounds and synth sounds have a nice synergy. No hate here. Jawesome work. YEA

Yeah, where's the depth? Everything is right at the forefront of the mix and ends up getting really messy. I agree with Larry that the synth design is pretty bland. I do like the percussion though, so rock on with that. NO

Really repetitive with boring synths. Nice drumloop work though. Hoorary for slicing and retriggers. String stuff is way too weak as far as articulation goes. You need to define your sounds more. They're all legato and run together. NO

i liek it Jammin' good time. Nice beats, nice gating, full soundscapes without overwhelming the listener. Top-notch, imo. YES!

Perfectly put. I really like the dynamics in this piece, but around the 4th minute it starts wearing thin. As I mentioned in another decision, moving lines underneath what you have can really help build a different kind of tension. NO

Vig takes the words out of my mouth. There's an attempt to make everything sound really ominous and epic here, but it ultimately falls flat because there's not enough presence with the instruments. This could actually benefit from reverb from a production standpoint and some moving lines to create tension from a composition standpoint. Needs more added to the texture to really be effective. NO

Can we try to not assume that people are using soundfonts? Let's not fall into the trap of interchanging "sample" with "soundfont." That said, I don't see much of a problem with the piece at all. I like the orchestration; it's clean, with good sequencing, and nice balance. I like it. YES

I'm in total agreement with Vig. Pretty sloppy performance and production. Everyone's already talked about that, though. My biggest issue is the arrangement. This is, for all intents and purposes, BGM. Theme just loops a few times, and then fades out. Not much of an arrangement. Some more creative ideas would help this piece out; rhymthmic variations, meter changes, etc. The arrangement is pretty simple. NO

Pretty much in agreement with the YES judges. Awesome arrangement, solid-enough production. I didn't find a problem with the drumkit used. It's fine. If you think that's a dealbreaker, you need your ears checked, 'cause that's the same kit I always use. YES

Wonderful choice of a source tune, but you hardly did anything to it. You need to actually arrange the song. This is so close it's nearly a rip. NO

While the arrangement is pretty interesting and quite liberal, sometimes I have trouble hearing the non-icecap sources. Only a few instances of Volcano Valley and Scrap Brain. In any case, the left-hand arpeggios get really old really fast; left-hand part writing is really boring save for a few instances. The performance is also pretty flat, as Vig said. NO

I think these are some of my soundfonts...though they're not really used well at all. Not enough balance between instruments, and the sequencing is very mechanical. The instrumentation is sparse. There is some original partwriting going on here, but its just not enough. There's some harmonic messiness around 1:32 too. Not a bad start, but you need to think much more about instrumentation, balance, and the pyramid of sound. NO

Well I think this is a pretty solid piece altogether. Nice beats, nice construction, good enough arrangement. I don't think it sounds "bland." It's an older-style synth design, but no less viable. I like it. YES

Gray posted a message to us in the Judge's forum officially abdicating his position on the OCR Staff.

No.

If you want to see more GenDisc topics, go to the GenDisc forum.