danny B
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Posts posted by danny B
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This is a pretty basic transition of Tifa's theme into a rock ballad/orchestral score hybrid. The sound quality is absolutely sub-par in every way. Cool overdubs with chorus can't hide that. Drum quality is unbalanced, with a pretty slick snare and kick, but tinny, lifeless cymbals. The whole arrangement is sloppy and lacks any real punch. A couple cool piano runs and guitar licks, but those seem like bright stars in a dark, dark galaxy.
The drums at 3:50 almost made me puke. Honest. No rhythmic sense in the whole damn fill. The drum arrangement in general is very spotty and random in nature.
There isn't one thing in this mix that would make me pass it. Very low sound quality, confusing arrangement and progressions and muddy guitar work all contribute to make this fall far below the standards. Aren't we raising the bar?
NO
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It would be nice to have a version that didn't have the clicks and pops, and a bit more balancing at the louder parts, but I find that this song effectively uses dynamic contrast and subtle harmonic juxtapositions to elicit a very stirring, melodramatic film score feel. Every song shines in one way or another, and like it has been said, this one shines brightly through its attention to volume and expression. The uber-low, subtle frequencies are the kicker for me. With the right subwoofer, it shakes the house down, and gives that real eerie, vibration feeling in your gut. I'd say this expands upon the original sufficiently, and the sheer emotional expression that it eminates makes it a worthwhile OCR bandwidth hog.
Nice work.
YES
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Wow. Feels like my speakers are gearing up to explode. Clipped to hell. Static high percussion drones on throughout, really makes it feel like it's dragging on and on. Some cool synths rockin' out the melody, but the crazy sfx and the clipped bass really make this one sound like someone made their first fruity loops song and turned off the default compressor. Way too loud, and doesn't really express much in the way of harmonic or melodic reinterpretation. The original is a very melodically driven piece, and this mix doesn't seem to do that particular aspect any justice.
NO
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OK, the beginning is a smattering of non-musical randomosity, and the transition into the OOM-TSS is totally arbitrary and not smooth in any way.
Standard drum patterns, along with presets playing simple harmonies. No real ingenuity with regards to rhythm, progression, or melody. Some textures sound authentic, but are out of place within the rest of the sound field. The whole thing seems like a disjointed cut-and-paste job with loops. Expand upon the original, or envision it in a new light. Give it some direction and structure.
Til then, NO
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I'm hearing a lot of clipping in the file, along with seriously low-fi recording. I've checked as many versions as I could find of this, and heard noticeable, distracting clipping each time. If it's a problem with my rig, I can't find it. Can I get a second opinion?
NO (until later)
UPDATE 5/25/04 -
The resubmitted version contains no clipping and is encoded better. The arrangement was never a problem. Mixed a bit soft, but that can be normalized or amplified. No biggy.
YEAA!!
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I guess this needs to be made official.
YES
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Bad sound quality, minimal rearrangement. See above comments.
NO
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Proof that Ari is a drum N00b.
These drums are so sickeningly over the top and randomized that I can hardly discern a defined beat pattern. If I saw a drummer play this, I'd kick his ass. Honestly.
The EQ on them is so articulate that i'm hearing vastly more attack than resonance out of the drums. Very, very, bad. And trust me, it's ok to not fill every single 16th and 32nd note with a drum strike. This is an uptempo jazzy drum pattern in a song that absolutely does not need it. Your piano arrangement insinuates a solid backbeat pattern, and the groove too often throws the backbeat on an and or even a 16th off, and it very much throws off the continuity of the piece. Simplicity in percussion is often more effective than haphazard "everythinghitting". The tempo even seems to fluctuate in and out of sync.
There are major off-key problems beginning at 2:04.
The whole thing is indicative of a sloppy mixing job and rushed production. Attention to staying in the key, or modulating it correctly, is vital to this song's presentation. As of now, this sounds like a very early WIP. I'd rethink the drums as much as possible. They aren't getting past me.
NO
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Firstly, the organ is very disjointed and oddly arranged, rhythmically.
There are interesting percussive ideas here, but mostly the drums seem like an afterthought. The same synth textures trigger over and over, and get very tiring. It's got a very raw synthetic nature, but without any intensity to push it forward. Arrangement is fine by my standards, but nothing is really done to stand out. Simple A/B'ing with occasional brief breaks.
Jumps around like a mofo. Let's hear some smoother transitions and different instrumentation once in a while. Props on your improv in a harmonic minor. Overall melodic content is straightforward and effective. I'd like to hear a more concentrated presentation in the overall work to bring out that particular strength.
Until then, NO.
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That's why.
NO
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Me too. I love the original. Kind of codifies my love of the FF7 ST.
Prot nailed it. Drums are way too hot, and even within themselves are unbalanced and awkwardly EQ'd.
Add in some originality, and try to get a more consistent sound level out of the instrumentation. Compression can be our friend. And it can also kill you. It's like a girl.
NO
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OK, so we're going retro electronica. Let's see what happens here.
This reminds me of those kickass tunes that play during MYTH or Deviance installs, for all you P1R4TZ out there. Distinctly lo-fi but thoroughly enjoyable. Unfortunatly, the sound quality here is more lofi through its frequency clarity, rather than just the retro samples. The kick is screaming for some high end. I think you've over-lowpassed it. Either kick up the res a bit, along with a little freq, and that might give it some more definition.
Like I said, it's very enjoyable and pretty well put together, but the whole caboodle smells of mud. Muddy, muddy, muddy, it be. Try for a more refined & defined sound. That's what we deal with here.
NO
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You've got the basics of hiphop percussion down well enough, but the groove alone can't carry this tune. As mentioned by my predecessors, the sound quality is a major bummer throughout, as is the instrumentation.
You're using the piano the way a guitar should be used. Parallel fifths and octaves everywhere. If it was a distortion guitar, it'd be sick as fuck, but right now, it sounds like a 2nd year class piano student. Sorry dude.
Interesting cut ups and scratches, a bit rough but the energy is there. You've got a pretty decent ear for authentic hippity dippity hoppity, but the SQ has got to match the arrangement ability, which overall isn't half bad. Some more smooth transitions maybe, and definately some more processing on your instruments, along with a dire need for better samples might kick this pig above the threshold.
Resample, Reaffect, Resubmit.
NO
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The opening vibes sample is too synthetic to be pleasingly realistic, and too real(ish) to be a decent synth sample. It gives off a serious GM MIDI vibe (yay pun for me). Drums sort of just...exist.....they don't really enhance the mood or express anything. Real flat.
The arrangement here is very minimalistic and seems to depend on its atmosphere to carry it along, which unfortunately doesn't work too well, as the samples are dry and lack any dynamic contrast. This sounds to me like the opening screen of an old Apogee DOS game with slightly better samples. The notes are right, they fit, etc, but the whole piece doesn't seem coherent enough to qualify it as a high quality arrangement. The melody clashes with the harmony during the main melody iterations, I think I'm hearing a major melody trying to fit over minor chords with the chorus.
Then, it just fades out. Let's hear a distinct, energetic chorus, or a slick groove that can carry the whole tune through it's (excrutiatingly) long 5 minutes. The mixing basics are fine, good attention to dsp and clarity with instrumentation, but I can't help but feel like you're holding back. Fill 'er up, n' GIT 'ER DUN.
NO
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I enjoy this song on so many levels. I think the flows are sick, the background is as close to gangsta rap as i think the vg community could get to in a long time. Especially considering it was produced by a gang of pasty white boys (with some high-profile minorities thrown in for good measure).
But given what I know about OCR policy at this point, I can't pass it. I think this tune is so good in its own way, but unfortunately it falls victim to guidelines that filter out 99% of the crap, and 1% of those works questionable on matters of procedure. But I can't reject it, as I find that the rapping and production value is of sufficient quality for me personally to consider it an adept re-arrangement. It gets its job done with vocal attacks and poignant additions and subtractions at pivotal points in the flow. Rap is a more complex art form than many will have you believe. And this track is a masterpiece.
Fuckin' playa hatas.
I plead da FIF
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I'd just like to add that with an extended chorus or bridge, along with some original improvisation, this tune would be very sick indeed. There's a way to do solo piano work, and there's a way to do solo guitar work. With a little polish and a bit better recording, i'd be inclined to designate this as the "yes" variety.
Until then....
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Too short, too simple.
The style is just fine. Execution is fine. The problem is that this song is only 2 and a half minutes long. It also repeats 2 times within that length.
If this song was twice as long and promoted more variation, it would have gotten a yes, but alas
NO
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See above posts.
NO
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Not much else to say, the bass thing just isn't working for me. I don't know what's up with your friend's sub, but I sure can't hear any true sub-end. The drums show little in the way of effective EQ or Processing techniques, Each drum sound should carve out its own "niche" of Frequency space, so each sound can be heard loud and articulate. Along with the uber-repetitious synthage on top of the mix, I can't give this one the go.
NO GO
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A nice tune, catchy melody...all that jazz, but this piece lacks any kind of punch. I didn't hear my sub fire one time. The percussive samples are lo-fi as it is, but they don't catch any attention with their un-EQ'd, flat sound. And after the excruciatingly long intro, i don't feel I was rewarded enough with a strong, poignant chorus section to satisfy that buildup. It repeats a few times and goes back to a bland, lo-fi drumloop. The piano runs are very nice, but unfortunatly too little, too late. You've got interesting synth programming and percussive rhythms, just try to get them out a bit more.
Mixing is just as as important, if not more, as arrangement.
NO
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Is it just me, or is this something you'd hear as a Casio keyboard demo track? It's got solid accompaniment and solid arrangement, but the sound quality has got a way to go. Fix this pig up with some quality synths and samples, and you'll have a rip-snortin' hell of a ditty.
It's hillbilly techno fightin musik! YEEEEHAAAAAA
NO
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I'm pretty sure these are Reason strings, so I'll judge them as so. They're damn good samples because they can work in orchestral settings and electronic ones, this tune taking advantage of the latter. They don't sound real to me by any means, but they have that perfect blending of synthesis and reality to complement the synthetic nature of the song. Likewise, Instrumentation across the board is mostly well done, especially the percussion samples that really elicit that "neo-retro" groove.
The overall mix, however, feels flat. There's little differential in dynamics, nor is there a clear presence between the frequency ranges. Much more EQ could be done here. And more DSP on certain instruments, especially verbing the strings a bit more, would help fill up the sound field a bit more. It kind of sounds like I'm listening to a sick techno track through the back door of a nightclub. It's subdued when it should be intense. It's anticlimatic when it should be over-the-top. The arrangement of the builds & drops are fine, but the dynamics and instruments to establish that climax don't seem to hit.
Overall though, i'd have to say it's an enjoyable tune that does well to expand upon the original sufficiently while also giving it a new spin. A bit more busy melodic or rhythmic motifs might spice things up a bit though.
YES
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Much better submission than the first one, the castlevania one, right?
Much better synth programming and attention to arrangement detail.
Percussion is nice, but given the still relatively low quality level of instrumentation, I can't help but think that it's a drumloop. And these drumloops are nothing more than static presence to attempt and liven up what appears to be a direct transcription of the original.
The arrangement, while plenty dense with interesting musical ideas and timbres, seems to jump around quite a bit, with no definite focus to their purpose. Some embellishments border on total inneffective dissonance, and often cut through pretty harshly with their grating digital synthetic nature. Interesting filter effect on the strings, and a poignant transition to piano. Good work there.
Overall, this mix lacks a clear focus and defined instrumentation to give the additions justice and the rearrangement a clear presentation. The trancey lead cuts through and above EVERYTHING, just one of several mastering issues that need attention. The mix builds up and drops down several times without any real rhyme or reason, giving me a sense of letdown and confusion several times.
A solid effort, with interesting rhythmic additions and harmonic alterations. More attention to mixing and mastering details, along with more consistent arrangement presentation would kick this one up several notches. With such a familiar and overmixed tune, you've really gotta stand out. This has the potential to do so, but it needs a much cleaner demeanor. Polish this pig, resubmit.
NO
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Protricity, this means war. This arrangement plays upon the original source material in such a delicate and original way that I give it a YES with all my heart. It is similar to the original, but what is a piano soloist going to do, add a drumloop? NO! STFU N00B
A very moving and poignant rendition, though i'd be inclined to say that it falls much farther into the impressionist pile than classical. But Issyfit and Dicko Dan prob know more about that kind of jumbo.
The break to the original section does well to jar the song out of it's initial feeling, and allows it to transcend into the the realm of super-keen with the ending that absolutely annhiliates my very being.
I am humbled by the choice to remain tastefully concise and compact in the scope of the arrangement (a restraint I many times beg the good Lordy I had), while still creating a truly epic conclusion. This one accomplishes its goal through attention to technique and refined musicianship, a pairing of qualifications that is too often eclipsed by mastery of programming, overproduction and beatboxing. But not here, no sir! You have duly impressed me. Great work.
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OCR01200 - *YES* Legend of Zelda 'Into the Golden Sunset'
in Judges Decisions
Posted
Like I told you, If you (or anybody) can send me a version that doesn't clip all over the place and sound like it's encoded at 24 kpbs, i'll give it a shot. Until then, 1:12 is the least of this tune's problems.
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