Hemophiliac

I was the lone yes on the first submission and this version is better still. There were two issues I called out on the first one, being the loud and forward guitar and the kick not coming through very well. To me the guitar was addressed and improved, but the kick still could come out in the mix more. The kick does feel better than the first version, but there is still some more space for it. The arrangement is still great and fun filled with the same BBQ beach vibes. Still a YES

This opening sounds lovely and really got my expectations up to get things started. We then get to 0:32 and the sampled flute is introduced. The tone on flute is great and I like that, but there's other issues about it that cause problems. First off, it's placement in the mix is very forward and loud. I'd recommend to shoot for pushing it back in the mix so that it feels at a similar placement as the solo vocalist in the intro. You should be able to achieve that with careful application of the wet/dry levels on the reverb as well as some reduction of volume. Next with the flute, we come to articulation. And well, there is no legato, it's all detached. Whenever a more agile line is played (such as any of the chromatic passing tones like 0:38; I'll come back to this later) you can hear the separation between all of the attacks as well as times where the attack is too slow to keep up and the note barely sounds before being cut off by the next one. If you're able to, I'd recommend to try to record yourself playing the line. The arrangement itself is pretty conservative with a few small places were things were added, the intro is great, and the middle bridge 1:34-1:46 was nice. The melodic embellishment with chromatic passing tones in the melody are a form of personalization. I didn't necessarily agree with the chromatic notes because they do sound awkward in context, but they are making it your own thing and that is a step in the right direction. The texture is mostly homophonic throughout with a few other part having movement is the pizzicato, harp, and horns in different spots. Some of those were buried in the mix and not easily noticeable. Now that's not necessary to get a pass, but could help when thinking about future arrangements to keep the listener's interest going. The number one issue here is the balance between parts. As others have already said before me, the brass gets very big at times, and as I pointed out already the flute is very forward to cut through everything. In reality for a solo flute to cut through in an orchestral setting the backing parts would likely need to be playing softer than the flute for it to be able to project and carry out. In a digital context it's easy to just turn the volume up, but when you do that it just sounds unnatural. With all that said, it's going to sound like I hate this. That's not the case, I feel like there is space for this, but in it's current form it's not ready yet. NO

On casual listen this will feel melodically conservative. The devil's in the subtle details though. There's a lot of structural changes in this and some fun playing with time signatures. 2:06-2:44 brought the melodic interpretation, and it's a fun change-up. As far as sound quality, yeah this does kinda feel like an upgrade to Alpha 2. However, I don't know if I would have got that had I not read it from your description. That's fine, it doesn't need to be exactly sounding like a CPS2, it's your own thing. I do wish there was more dynamic changes throughout the piece as it's relatively flat dynamically. With all that said, what's here is clever and interesting as I keep catching new and different things on each listen. From time signature changes, to extending out phrase/section lengths, and playing with the overall structure the highlight is the arrangement here. Fun concept, very cool arrangement. YES

So, I really think you nailed the Sungazer vibe, I think Adam Neely would appreciate what you've done. This is a very mature arrangement despite a short section of levity and silliness of the use of some SFX. I really appreciate that the time was given to create bridges or little transitional sections to allow the listener to adjust to new time signatures and changes. Sometimes in complex music those can be unprepared and feel awkward or jarring. I have to say that was not the case here at all. You've covered all the fronts. The drumkit sounds great, especially the toms. The arrangement is great, and the source is very clear to me. The 3:47-4:16 floaty space section was a great palette cleanser and a break from the rhythm. That break also helped make the final minute have an extra oomph of energy that really closed out the song strong. My only nitpick was the background arp in the first 1:32 is really only noticeable when the arrangement is sparser with less going on. This seemed to be an anchoring idea and that could really give the listener something to hold onto when things get wild (even though this section is actually very approachable). Well, this is great and I hope people enjoyed it as much as I did. Very sweet. YES

It's party time. A chilled-out party at the beach. I actually laughed at the usage of the sneaky Mario Paint sound usage, completely unexpected. Siolfor's guitar tone is perfect for this style. Great job letting everyone also take a turn at soloing and letting them bring themselves into the piece. This slower tempo fits this very well. This is fairly conservative until 0:52 when we get some small guitar noodling before it quickly comes back into the primary source idea at 1:01. Trading off between sections of source being presented with verses where the parts get to solo and improvise was a good choice to add your own interpretation. This is especially a good choice with how conservative the other sections are. 3:37 while it's a return to the head again, the extra energy here and countermelodies are very fitting and added just enough extra "oomph" to lead to the close-out of the piece. While the kick is quiet it is there, mostly being covered up by the bass. Some side-chaining could have made the kick come through more, but that wasn't a major issue to me. Having the kick come through cleaner would be great, but turning the volume up on it is probably not the way to go as it might take away from the chilled vibe this whole piece has. The guitar is more forward than the other parts, but those two things did not kill these beach party vibes. I can see a case being made on the balance between parts not being perfect, but as is I feel this is over the bar. YES

Darksynth vibe is really cool on this, with a neat atmosphere. You said it perfectly with your own description, this is "rudimentary". Static and repetitive, with not enough variation in the beat or the other parts. The 2:26 dropout did not come soon enough as I was finding myself fed up with the unchanged beat, progression, and melodic patterns. The beat picks up the energy for the final section, but you still didn't explore any other development of melodies or parts above it. The stutter in this last section is cool, but not enough to give the variation this is missing. The low end of the mix is very full and lacks clarity. A side-chain would go a long way to clean up things and create space for other interesting things to fill. Aside from the 2:26 drop, there is also a very little dynamic change throughout the piece. That contributes heavily to the energy feeling flat and not going anywhere. At 1:13 when the new synth lead comes in, it feels awkward because the attack is slower than the rest of the other parts. Coming in behind the beat slightly in an almost syncopated feel. Because the other parts are very gridlocked this comes off as unusual. I agree with introducing something different there, but specifically the attack was an unusual choice. This didn't effect my decision in the end, just wanted to point out that it felt awkward to me. The vibe is great, but this is static and lacking in variation in all parts as well as a dense mix needing space. NO

Very conservative straightforward genre adaption we have here. The source (Yoshi's Island) was always a fun one and there's a world I can see this working. However, it will take a lot more personalization from you to get this into a place where it becomes more than just a genre adaption. Add more of your own interpretation, and your takes on this iconic source. Aside from 1:00-1:10 with a quick bridge to get us back to the beginning of the track, it's the same as the source melodically and structurally. With a very short track, this also has a nearly identical first and second half of the piece. More variation and changes in the second half would prevent this from being repetitive. The best thing you've done here was the drums. Their part was handled pretty well, and change up often enough to propel the piece forward. The written part feels good, but keep an eye on machine-gunning the velocities on repeated fast notes. This could result in them feeling unreal. The lead guitar is in a weird place, very uncanny valley. Tone-wise it sounds ok, but the vibrato and rigid humanization throws you off and exposes the sample for being not a live performance. The bottom end of the mix isn't the worst but it could be cleaned up some. The bass and kick are competing for the same space and need to share and play nice. While that wasn't a huge problem for me, I do want to point out that it is there and could be improved. While this is a fun adaption there isn't enough interpretation for OCR. Let's hear more of your own interpretation, and not just Yoshi's Island in a "rock" setting. NO

Off site hosting has either expired or is no longer available as it is showing Error 404 now. Did anyone grab this and keep it?

This is really cool, interpretive arrangement, in a chamber/small group approach. The intro is silly and I didn't really care for it especially when the majority of this piece feels like it's meant be taken seriously, so to have an intro that's unserious is weird. That's no big deal when it comes to the overall track, it's just an usual choice to make. To me this sounds like physically modelled strings, a lot like was used here https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR04414 . Either way samples or physically modelled, the sequencing was handled well. I particularly liked the attention to detail with how the articulations were changed, as well as the phrasing played out. As a listener you have to be cognizant of how the melody gets passed off between parts, while things may feel like a supportive part, they may actually be the melody. Such as the cello at 1:21 playing the dark world dungeon theme, and 2:04 the Zelda dungeon theme on the viola (panned on left side). Source melody is deemphasized in it's dynamic but they are still there. Rhythm augmentation was a sneaky way of putting that Zelda dungeon behind everything else while the other parts lightly fill space and arpeggio around in a detached manner. There is source in here that was not mentioned by the artist, "Gannon's Message" from Link to the Past from 0:36-0:52. All of the other 3 themes are identifiable and dominant throughout, even with much interpretation and various arrangement techniques implored to modify them. Happy to see this through, kudos on a unique interpretation of multiple themes weaved together in a tapestry in a dark dungeon. YES

Xcellent team effort from team SNES. Xaleph leads with great creativity as always. At times this has more mellowness then I xpect, but that's a joy. He's a master of psytrance, so anytime he breaks it up with dipping into other genres or changing up the feel it's awesome. The guitar was also a highlight as it injected just the oomph of energy it needed to close things out. Love it!

Dramatic, solemn, and cinematic. Hybrid-orchestral take that is very evocative. The opening string parts passing back and forth had a quality of ticking clocks. I felt this had some restraint to it, because I kept expecting it to get to a bigger and larger dynamic but it keeps the energy from getting too big and that gives an anticipatory feeling. Wish it got bigger to climax, but I can understand not going there to keep a certain feeling. Great execution, good arrangement.

Tasteful take that manages to insert energy into a source that was already very ethereal and ephemeral. The development through soloing is classic jazz combo arrangement fare, with soloing on piano and awesome vibraphone. Great arrangement, great performances. Absolutely recommended.

Super high energy take on the classic Vampire Killer and Opening from CV3. Love the combination of genres. Orchestral and guitars have always been epic and this is no exception. The guitar solo from BMC ~2:30 was sick shredding. Great take, super enjoyable!

Really cool that you both can work together on something. Family contribution should really be a more regular thing. As for the piece, the overall vibe here is cool, but there are many issues to go over. For something that seems to be subtle and groove-focused, there isn't any groove to it. The sound design choices also don't mesh well together, but I did like the filtered sweeps in the background that start at 1:12. The bass in particular feels like it's on an island by itself with the only other element nearby that is the kick. These two at least don't step on each other's toes, and both are clear against each other. The bass is rather large but doesn't have much going on, it could be more interesting with modulation. Individual parts get reused a few times and this gives a static and semi-repetitive feeling to the song. Transitions between sections are nearly non-existent and it's jarring to change things up suddenly. Even basic or simple drum fills can go a long way to smoothing things out. Ear candy could also do the trick for transitions as well. The dynamics are relatively flat, but you at least give the illusion of change through elements dropping out and coming back from time-to-time. The ending isn't great as the energy just sputters out like a single candle's flame flickering out. This feels like a rough draft missing more fine polish to the sound design, mix, and development of ideas. It could be something and has potential, but needs more work. NO

So this is fun, I enjoy the whole concept of the piece. Holy hand grenade included with that. Mr. Chapman's bass performance is excellent, and I found the voice-over fit nicely. What isn't working is the mixdown. It's lacking a lot of clarity between parts, and missing crispness. There's a tilt towards the top-end of frequencies making everything much brighter. This in turn is making the bass lose some weight. With an awesome performance from Mr. Chapman, it's a shame it gets overshadowed and overpowered by the top end. Emunator is right to point out the specific instruments that are the biggest offenders of top-end crimes. The final section 2:39-4:50 really stepped up the energy nicely (adding the synth a nice touch), but the mix is so unclear that it's tough to tell what's going on. I don't know exactly what it is but everything just isn't sitting together and feeling cohesive as it should. I suspect there's some amount of compression or something in the master that's adding to the issues. There's a few plosives in the voice-over 2:24-2:39 that could be tamed, while they were not terrible; should be addressed. The arrangement was done well, but this battle was lost in the muddy trenches of mixing. NO

Sound upgrade done right. This is a mostly conservative approach where the melodic elements aren't expanded upon. The layering of instruments in the background is done very well. The approach to the samples is handled well too. I love your use of dynamics and they have a solid range, including a nice contrasting section in the middle where everything pulls back. Closing out the track with a ritardando was a nice way to wrap things up without creating a big, over-the-top ending. That was such a pleasant touch, and felt very fitting for the track. The solo voice falls into the uncanny valley for me, but not so bad that it hurt the track for me. After the middle section, we get a nice layered approach to bring everything back in for a final recapitulation. A long crescendo was a nice way to get us back to the beginning. However, this is where things took a turn. There's no melodic embellishment, expansion, or development of the original idea on this second time. The solo voice returns almost at the very end to add one small new element, but that was not enough for me. There should be something new for this recapitulation to make it stand out and not be a direct copy and paste of the first A section. A few suggestions could be: melodic embellishment, passing the melody lines to other instruments, or adding countermelody (or all of the above). Anything you could add to make this final section more of your own and less of just the source/a copy of the first A section would put this over the top for me. It probably sounds like I didn't like this, but the opposite is true. It's quite a lovely piece, and I really enjoyed it. I'd like to see some more work done on it, and please send it back when you're ready. NO (resubmit)

Once again, we're in your wheelhouse smashing your keys. Your key-based prog never fails to disappoint and this one is no exception. The contrasting break at 1:28 was a great way to bring in the Smash Bros theme for a quick cameo. Plus the contrast helped the track not feel ultra-high energy for the whole way through. You know the right moment to bring in some planing chords to excellent effect, 2:09-2:12 is a great example of this plus you layered in orch hits for extra power. So cool. This doesn't overstay it's welcome and wraps up quickly, just leaving me wanting more awesome prog-riffs that subvert expectations while playing with time. Absolutely YES

This certainly is a departure from your usual soft-orchestral style. A pleasant surprise! Sparse, yet evocative. Lonely, but at the same time hopeful. The ambience in this is oppressive, and likely the biggest contributing factor to the feeling of loneliness. With very little harmonic or tonal material in the lows, the top end is left to carry the burden of the melody. In a way, I feel like this is too sparse, but at the same time you could not create the same emptiness and emotion without being sparse. I would have liked this to get fuller at some point or had more going on in the low-end tonally, but I can't argue with the result. Yes, that's a criticism, but your artistry still comes through regardless. Even though this is a relatively quiet track, the peak still gets up to -0.1, way to use that space! Full dynamic while still remaining sparse and quiet. I think people will be surprised when they hear this, Rebecca; as I was. Moving. YES

Wow that's a crazy interesting source tune. Gonna be wild to arrange this, let's see what we've got. For anyone who comes across this thread in the future, I encourage you to check out the source. Chimpazilla put it perfectly when she said that this sounds like "The non-glitchified version of this original". I have to thank you for providing a breakdown because that is a long source. You've definitely done a great job of adapting this in your own way and moving the individual sections and parts around to fit your own liking. That is the strength of this piece, the arrangement. Good job there. The additional high woodwinds were a great choice for accenting the top of those fast runs early. It's very tough to get stuff sounding hyper-realistic and this is a case where some aspects of it are solid and others are lacking. For example, when there are runs by strings and horns late into the track (2:31-2:42), it feels like they are slightly behind and have longer attacks. Marcato or short patches might work better in this circumstance. The dynamics were handled well, hearing the tiny crescendos at the end of phrases was good, and there's a slow and gradual crescendo in a few other sections. The timing humanization isn't a bother (but it could be exaggerated) for realism because the snare is keeping time and is not turning into a machine gun. The samples used just barely squeak by in terms of quality, but they could be much much better (legatos). For what's here though it gets by. The ending is nice and wraps up the chaos in a nice neat little bow. YES

Well this certainly has come a long way from it's first steps last year. I'm happy you've gone from being a long-time fan to diving into producing and arranging, to now submitting! The vibe on this one is dark and contemplative, it creates an almost haunting atmosphere at times. I think for that aspect of things you've done a good job creating that feeling. In a macro-sense I like how the whole piece is laid out and how it flows. Your singing was done well, and the effect of filtering added more eeriness to go along with the other elements. At the same time too, the vocals are very loud and feel very on top of the other parts rather then sitting in the same space and same mix. The formants are loud as well specifically in the range of about 1,800~3,500Hz. If there's a boost there from an EQ, I suggest to reduce it some. I feel like there's a lot that could've been done to help the piece feel less static and propelled forward. The background elements sound okay, but the focal melody lines are very exposed letting us hear how sequenced and unreal they are. Barring better samples or a live performance from the oboe and bass clarinet extra attention to humanization would be needed to make them work better in a soloist's context (more attention to velocity, dynamics, timing, phrase lengths). Also there are percussion rolls that get the "machine-gun" effect (IE: hi-hat rolls 0:18, 1:08 concert tom, 2:23 piano roll). At times the leads do also wander about and noodle. Not the worst I've heard, but it definitely could be improved upon. Right now, there's a lot of issues adding up rather than one singular large issue to focus on. There's a great concept here, however; it needs better execution of production/humanization, and consideration of how to reduce the static feel and noodling. NO

It's really cool that this is a non-Final Fantasy Uematsu source. This is a lot of fun, and people will dig it! Honestly was indifferent to the Homestar Runner clips, they didn't add or take away anything for me. Big sound right off the bat, right after some Homestar Runner clips and slick chips bring us in. There's noticeable pumping from side-chained compression and it's just on the border of being too much. I'd prefer slightly more transparency from the side-chaining, but this is done as effect to help create groove in the track. Hearing the release from the side-chaining on the bass is most evident during 1:44-1:52. During this short bridge it feels too much, but I can overlook it because it's just a short moment. The genre adaption is cool, and I'm grooving. There could have been more melodic embellishment and interpretation but there's plenty of other variation and style to make this your own. YES

This is minimal in a maximalist way. Do the most you can with as little as possible. Sparse, dark, and subtle. The massive reverbs fill so much space that you can use very little but maintain fullness. The departures from the source are welcomed as the original is mostly sparse and doesn't do much dangerous. I really liked the kick drum dropout for the final ~20-30 seconds or so as it was going relentlessly throughout. A change-up in that kick pattern sooner or a dropout could have added some textural contrast, but you also did kind of achieve that by making 2:44-2:52 drop down in velocity and maybe a slight high-pass filter on it too (hard to tell). At the end of it all, that's a nitpick as the pattern is fine as is; it's not the main focus but a driving force to move the song forward. Enjoyed this one! YES

The vibe on this is really cool, and it's rad to hear you really expand your territory into unexpected places that I haven't heard before. The production is clean as I would expect and it feels like we're getting a sound upgrade to start out. When we get almost two minutes in a new synth is introduced and the soundscape starts to have some evolution. When the head returns and the guitar is introduced (2:40), it does not feel like it's playing with the same band. It's got it's own ideas about where to go and noodles about regardless of the rest of the song structure. Either this is a prerecorded loop added on top of your backing that you created or the solo was not developed enough. That same thing goes for the trumpet and sax from 4:27-4:58, they step all over each other's toes and at times are not complimentary with each other. If you want to write parts out that are noodling around less, pick a target and have a goal you want to reach with both high and low points along the way. The solos can be telling a story just as much as the whole song does. That way it can go places and progress rather than noodle about aimlessly. 3:06~3:14 there's some odd chords in the synth pad not playing nice with the rest of the parts. Again really crunchy chords in the electric piano 4:19-4:26. The other problem is not enough micro-variation within the drums. Yes, you do change up the pattern section-to-section, but it would be next level to give some tiny fills or slight variation to the pattern from time-to-time. Overall this is a cool vibe and energy with strong production, but with a very under-developed arrangement that does not feel completely refined. NO

I think we are all in agreement that there are legs in the concept and style adaption here. The genre is rad and injecting some weird elements before the final recap was cool (with the synth). Bring that out more! Static and repetitive are both words I'd use to describe this. It just doesn't change up much and keeps relentless chugs going. The chugs themselves are also mixed so much more forward and present then the other parts including the leads. The leads should be the focus while the rhythm guitar chugs should be a background element working in tandem with the percussion to drive the piece forward. Right now they are continuous and get dull after a while due to lack of variation. My fellow judges already did a great job explaining what should be addressed should you choose to continue working on this more. I'd like to see the static repetitive rhythm addressed with variation and some more careful examination of the mixdown/balance of parts. NO

Holy bejesus dynamic contrast. I love the huge swings between loud and soft on this. Huge textural contrasts between huge and wide vibrato on the fat bass synth with massive percussion and then beautiful and serene electric piano lines and airy flute. I'm feeling the source and the melodic interpretations, plenty of it go by and plenty of your own spices to go along. My only criticism is the ending does trail off in a way that leaves me wanting more, but not in a good way. Uneasy just like other moments in this song through great use of chromaticism (2:12 in the piano) as well as strange and unique synth choices and processing. YES, loved this.