DarkeSword

... Look up the mixer and FX channels in the help file. All will become clear.

Wow lay off the delay. It's on everything. You don't have to delay everything. This gets pretty ugly at 1:56. The delay is causing things to fill up and clip. The arrangement is pretty uninteresting too; things are basically just repeating a lot. That section at 3:40 comes two minutes too late. All your sounds are really nice, but you've gone overboard on the delay. Everything sounds messy. NO edit: whoops, guess israfel and i voted at the same time.

Everything is so quiet. It seems like you've got some nice musical ideas going on, but there so far back; they sound so timid, hiding behind that lo-fi percussion. Bring that out a bit, and push back the percussion. I can see how you're trying to be delicate, but the ideas get busier and seem like the song should crescendo near the end, but it doesn't. It's still hiding back there. Work on your levels, man. NO

Yeah, what HE said. The soundfont PLAYER isn't free. The soundfonts are. Huge difference. It's like a buffet... Exactly; all you can eat for an up front price.

I hate that wonky synth that comes in the beginning. It's not that it's not super horrible. It's just right at the forefront of the mix, and it drowns other stuff out. It's too loud. I think you mentioned that it's the bass? Bass is supposed to provide the groundwork for a piece; not be the main thing the listener hears throughout the entire song. Push it back. Your solos are pretty good, but it's hard to really hear them because of that synth. This mix sounds kind of of empty too; consider taking the bass down, adding some harmonic support, like chords in some instrument. The original song has a great driving funk quality with real strong melodic grooves, and that seems to be lost here. NO

I like the sounds, and like Prot said, it's "pretty flowing," whatever that means. Although that snare drum is too acoustic for my tastes; it sounds like you have a guy sitting in the back of the room hitting the snare drum with one stick. There's a little too much reverb on the percussion, I think. The cymbal hat sound is making this rolling hiss sound that's kind of annoying. Percussion doesn't really change all that much throughout the piece. Just some dropping out here and there. I don't know. It just seems like this piece is going through the motions. I feel like I'm supposed to bounce along or feel excited by this piece, but I'm not. NO

At first I was going to disagree with Prot about the synchronization issues, but I think he has a point. There are certain points in this mix where the guitars and drums just don't match up; I find myself trying to groove along with the track, but the flow gets broken up. I do like this piece. It's got a nice sound, and the solos aren't bad at all. Good sounds, and not a bad arrangement. A bit repetitive, but not annoyingly so. ... Okay, I listened to it again, and I can't get past those timing issues. That guitar's all over the place. Clean it up and resubmit. NO

I really don't like your instruments. They don't work well for the genre you've chosen. They're quite electronic sounding, but you're not doing an electronica mix. If you're going to use electronic sounds, at least make it interesting. Do some processing or something. This arrangement is little different than the original. I agree with Dan; I'd rather listen to the original, as it's more dramatic, more exciting, and has better sounds. That's saying something, considering this is an SNES song. And it just ends. ; NO

I'm just using the soundfonts that are in the Compiled Links Guide - Great for Beginners Sounfonts section. That's ALL I used to make a song, and it says they are demos. I don't know wtf is going on. It's fucking driving me insane. ... Okay, here's the deal. Those soundfonts are free. Yes. This is true. HOWEVER The Fruity Soundfont Player plugin for FLStudio is not free. You have to pay for the plug-ins in FLStudio. It does not matter if the sample you have is free. If the SAMPLER is demo (i.e. Fruity Soundfont Player), then FLStudio won't save it.

I think that your drummer drowned in all that distortion. Seriously, I like distortion as much as the next guy (unless the next guy is SeattleOverCoat *ZING!*), but seriously folks, it's very hard to hear anything aside from the guitars and the ride cymbal throught this piece. Might be recording issues, might be mastering issues, I don't know, but it's a bit muddy. Also, I checked out the original; I'd rather listen to that one; it's a lot cleaner and more enjoyable than your own rendition, which is, as you say, a cover. I'm glad you enjoyed rocking out, but when you're trying to rock out on a song that already rocks out, you need to SERIOUSLY rock out, and rock it out well. NO.

Okay. I love this style; it's very unique! I like your interpretation of the themes, particularly the Main Theme and the Windmill. I do, however, think this mix could use some work. First; that pervasive drum loop that continues throughout the mix. It sounds very drumloopy. You mentioned you used FruityLoops. Drop that shiz in the slicer, yo'. Mess with it. Cut it up and rearrange it. PLEASE! Another thing; it seems like a lot of your stuff is using the same phaser preset; mess with those settings too, and try to use different phaser settings. Those pads are not bad, but they seem to be shoved to the right. Trying bringing them closer to the center. One thing that really bothers me about this mix is the Gerudo part. There's that tinny instrument on the left that plays the melody after a bit; I have an issue with the key its in. It sounds really off compared to your chords. Try to get those int the same key, please. It would make it sound so much better. I like this piece, I really do. I also think you can do a lot more with it. I'm going to give this a NO, because of the issues I mentioned, but I'm also going to say that if my fellow judges also give this mix a NO, please take the suggestions in to consideration and resubmit. You have a cool sound; I'd like to see you on OCR.

Man, I feel like I'm judging IMC again. I got a S|r Nuts mix and a Sadorf mix in this batch to judge. XD Okay. So this mix; it's pretty cool. I love nearly all the sounds used in this mix. Lots of cool gated stuff going on in the leads, and the mix progresses quite nicely. Percussion is pretty stock for the most part; I expected a bit more from Nuts, listening to some of his previous works. Gets the job done, though. The synth that comes in at 1:33 is a bit harsh, but I get used to it after a while. It fits the mood of the piece pretty well. The synth that comes in around 2:50 and defilters at 3:00 could have had a quicker decay though. Seems to be blending together, and I think something more defined that didn't fill up my ears would have worked better. Nevertheless, I like this. It's pumping, rapid-fire stuff that gets my head bouncing. YES

Wow. Percussion break is sexy. Woo. I really like this. You've done a great job combining both songs into one piece of music. Very groovy and fast paced. Lots of vocal samples, but that's characteristic of the OST itself, so I can't fault you for that. Plus they work really well. Some slight clipping though. Negligible. YES

This arrangement is really straightforward. For a song like Terra's Theme, that has so many arrangements, you really need to bring something new to the table I think. At the same time, I don't think we've really had an arrangement of Terra that's really straightforward like this one. I don't like your string sample all that much, but it gets the job done. The harp is not bad, but it just continues throughout the entire piece, and sometimes it seems like it's the only instrument moving at points. There's a lot of dead points in Terra's Theme where it's just a sustained note, so you need to have something more than a harp filling in that space. Those orchestra stabs around 3:03 have a really fakey brass sound in there; sounds a bit off the first few times. I would have liked to hear some more things going on, some more interpretation, rhythmically, harmonically, etc. The piece could use some mastering too. What you have is not bad. I'm very borderline on this. I'm going to say NO for now, but if other judges can convince me otherwise, I'll change my vote.

Wow, have you ever even heard of blue notes?

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Pretty cinematic. Nice opening. Brass is kinda bleh, but good atmosphere. Samples at some points are kinda "meh," but the arrangement is good. Nice highs and lows. Kinda slow goings though; I wish it would pick up more. Choir swelling at the end is nice. The gong would have been nice to hear again at the end. This works. I LIEK IT!!~1~1!!@12 YES~

It's a tight track no doubt, and I think the word in question is used appropriately. It's not 'nigger,' it's 'nigga,' a word you'll hear all too often around black people. They use it the same way surfer-boys use 'dude.' This is hot stuff, and definitely, as DJP said, an instant classic.

As much as I love reverb, you gotta lay off that stuff man. It's bad for your arteries. Everything is blending together, especially with those bell sounds. They're a nice sound; don't drench them in reverb. Like the others said, this song could use some EQing. It sounds kind of muffled, and there's some clipping going on. This song is filling up my ears, but not in a good way. Everything sounds really crunched together. Go for a wider sound, and tone back those drums a bit. I'd also like to see the opening section with the guitar come back in somehow; it would make the mix feel more complete. It sounds like two separate pieces as of now, especially since you've got that pause in there; a more seamless transition would help. NO for now, but please work on this more. I do like where you're going, and I'd love to hear it when you get there.

I like this. Nice and solid trance, with lots of change ups. It stays interesting. I love that detuned sound, so this is a real treat for me; I just wish it was a bit more defined. I especially like your interpretation of the melody at 3:32. Putting the pickups on beat one sounds a bit weird at first, but after listening to it a few times, you get the anthemic feeling. This is a keeper. YES.

This is really lo-fi man. Really. Guitar playing isn't bad though, and I don't mind the interesting harmonies too much, but there are a few timing issues that I keep hearing. Guitar solos are nice. The lo-fi-ness really kills this song though, it's hard to separate what's going on in this song. NO

I agree. This song is pretty similar to the original, except it's a bit simpler, and it's got a rain sample. The piano sounds REALLY mechanical too, and the sample used comes off sounding too bright. I'd pay attention to piano velocities. That choir part is lifted right out of the original too. The original had a great organic quality; what you've done here isn't very interesting, and it sounds really mechanical and lifeless. Too bad too. If you put more effort into the rearrangement, maybe even if you got someone to do some vocals for you, you could be onto something. NO

I only hear bits and pieces and snippets of Time's Scar in here, and have a hard time recognizing any other CC tunes. The LotR theme stands out, but doesn't fit in, and shortly after that, there are some notes that just don't sit right with me. The recording job, as mentioned, is also not that great. The solo flute is too sparse, the tone sounds amateurish and the actual arrangement is rather boring. Does a celtic flute have more of a range? Consider taking some parts higher on the register for some variety. NO

Can't stress this enough. The mix sounds a bit...dry? Not much depth to the sound here; sounds Casio keyboardish. Not that the samples suck...I suppose it's part of the goofy charm, but a lot of it sounds like default preset Fruity business. Drums could come out a bit more too. I dunno...seems like a lot more work could go into this. The arrangement's pretty basic too, and those solos at the end sound obligatory rather than natural. NO

Drum work is really nice. Pads and sounds are really great and build a good texture. I can kind of see what Vig is saying about the arrangement, but I don't think that it's on such a scale where it's detrimental to the mix. I think that the calmer stuff framed by the more intense stuff works well. That 'guitar' sound is...unique. Great work. I give it a YES, which is SEY backwards.