Hemophiliac   Judges ⚖️

So I actually can't hear the kick on this at all, and I usually can make out the kick in a buried mess. It's only during the sparsest section when everything drops out that I can hear it. So it definitely needs to have space carved out for it, also a little bit of beater sound could also help it cut through some too. I have to say I felt a bit disappointed when the intro finished and we get the proper start of the piece at 0:30. The intro is a lush, fantastic, 80s feeling that sets the tone too well. I was expecting this fullness to continue, but the break happens and then the rest of the parts felt thin in comparison to the intro. Also I'm confused as to what the mood is supposed to be. Is it silly or ominous and dark? To me the lightness and short sounding synths feel more light and silly than dark. The opening gave me a different vibe than that. Structurally I feel the piece is in a decent spot, it tells a story, but it lacks dynamics and feels fairly static. Drum variations and range of dynamics are missing from this, again making this feel lacking the finishing salt on top of a fresh delicious brownie. That polish and lack of cohesion is preventing it from crossing the finish line. I can live the lack of dynamics but the sound design and buried kick are the things that stand out to me the most. NO

What a calming and chill source. It's really cool to hear the energy injected into your version, pixeltea. While this is fairly conservative structurally there's expansion in the supporting parts. I also greatly appreciate the broader range of dynamics added to the piece. The source is relatively flat, but this covers soft and loud, big and small. Some of the samples aren't handled the best and leave something to be desired in terms of realism but what's here is good enough. More attention to detailed humanization would go a long way, especially in the solo instruments like violin (at 1:46 panned to the left), and also with the brass which just felt like a lower quality sample. The other thing I have to mention is the fade-out ending. Here it works fine, but it is disappointing to not have a more definitive and emotional payoff at the end of a dynamic track like this. I think what's here is fine, and is enjoyable despite a few short-comings that could be thought about for any future work or submissions. YES

Fantastic round 1. Very impressed with what came out. Looking forward to the future rounds.

First one is "Bowser is Pissed" by PriZm https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR01328 The second is "The Mother Is in Control" by Revolver Project https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR01420 Both from OCR, both from 2005!

Took me quite a few listens to catch the usage of CV3 in this. I wasn't sure where it was being used. That's because the rhythm on the melody used is way different than the source. That kind of change up is cool, however the phrasing doesn't feel very fitting. The backing parts seem to be ending their section or phrase but the melody over the top continues on. Prophetik put it well when he said, more intentionality with the phrasing would help a lot. The chromaticism in the lead also conflicts with the backing parts at times. This leads to some awkward changes for it. You'll want to be careful with using such a chromatic line while the backing stays relatively the same. Either the melody or backing needs to adapt to adjust to the other. There's something odd going on with the snare reverb. Either the snare is panned left or the reverb is bouncing after the initial hit to the opposite side or there's an attempt at gated reverb and it's not quite working 100%. Not sure what it is, but something about it sounds strange and slightly off. Consider automating the vibrato on the synth lead so it's not just going all the time, let the note hit and then let the vibrato come in after. Just like a pop singer would do. That would really give live to the leads. How it is now is fine, but just a note for leveling up in the future. Overall the concept is sweet and I enjoy it, but the small details are preventing this from being so much more. NO

Rubber-stamping this in agreement with the others here: Lofi is more than just a general "sound". You want to focus on maximizing what's there while remaining as minimal as possible. What's here feels like a short-cut on the general idea of what lofi is. Seems like an EQ applied on the master to cut the highs and roll off some of the low end too. This arrangement also needs more personalization too other than a slower tempo. The background elements are static and repetitive. Change things up from time to time, introduce new sections, new instruments, anything. To me this is a work-in-progress concept still, and not a finished and polished idea yet. NO

The stereo field is very wide on this, at the same time that keeps things very clean and separate. I like the passing of the melody between the violin and guitar. That feels so appropriate for a theme of love. They are finishing each other's sentences in an elegant way, as if they are two people who have known each other for so long. Great performance, very simple structure. Original intro leads us in and there's some embellishment on melody that anchors this in your own personalization. My main complaint is the ending. It's a loop that just goes to fade very quickly. I would have preferred something more concrete, but what's here is fine. YES

I want to start off by saying thanks for sharing this source and arranging it, it's beautiful. With this, I have no qualms with the source usage. It's well represented and the additional line movement from the secondary parts is plenty of personalization. I really enjoy the folk-nature of this piece and I like the instrument selection, they all work very well together. The tiple in particular is awesome. The drums sound very dry to me, and the snare in particular stands out as being in a strange place in the mix due it's dryness. The flute is where I'm having issue reconciling the piece. 1:16, 1:22, and 2:34 all have moments where the flute is playing a note outside of the chord being played in those moments. While they are generally moving towards a chord tone after, they do land on a strong beat and this causes an accent to them making them stand out to me. It's really only these 3 moments that stood out to me in the whole piece. Other moments of dissonance or motion like this did not bother me as much. I'm going to let this sit for a few days and come back to it and see if those awkward notes stand out as much to me, and hear some other thoughts on this before I make my decision. ? Edit 10/27: I've listened to this again, and the flute notes do still really stand out to me. I see how everyone else has voted on this, and that's fine we can disagree on how this one lands. Yes this has a "live" feel, but those notes happen too many times and stand out a too much to me. If I'm wrong and this passes that's fine, but I need to stick to my guns on this one. NO

Well, I have to admit I actually enjoy the vibe of this quite a lot. Also the pumping is on point and just right. I do like the synth choices and sound design. Nice, mellow vibe. The simple beat fits nicely. There's multiple spots of dissonance that don't feel intentional or don't make sense. I'm not going to timestamp because it's pretty much throughout the whole piece. Detuning might have a little to do with it, but feels more along the lines of notes that don't fit. I'm hearing audible crackling or artifacts in the second half 1:42 is when it starts and throughout the section. Limiter is working as it's not actually exceeding 0, but the peaks are cut enough to hear a crackle from it. So, the dissonance and crackling did it in. I could see myself flipping around if those are addressed, as I liked the overall approach and song layout. NO

This was my submission to Dwelling Of Duels' Fresh Month 2025. I've been on a break for a while but I knew I wanted to come back with an entry different than my usual tropical electric guitar styling. One thing that I've been wanting to do more is making more music with my tiple, which is a Colombian 12 string instrument that it like a smaller guitar with 4 courses of three strings. The Colombian tiple is known particularly for playing pasillos and bambucos, which are based 3/4 or 6/8 time. For Fresh Month, I wanted to make a track inspired by traditional pasillos but including violin and using my Coda EDC flute (which is basically an ocarina) and my cajon to go for a fully live feel using the tools I've got on hands. I got on VGLS to find something from a game I've played before and found that, somehow, there was a Brothers: A Tale Of Two Sons sheet on the website. I played Brothers a long while ago and really dug it (been meaning to replay it now that it has actual co-op play) so it seemed like a perfect opportunity to represent a less known game with a virtually unheard genre in VGM. I took the melody of the theme song and treated it like a species counterpoint exercise to create the voices for the violin, ocarina and bass. My biggest challenge for this piece was the violin; I've only been playing for about 5 years but I've been feeling more comfortable with it that I wanted it to be a part of this track. I do wish that I had an acoustic violin available but my point for this track was to use the tools available to me at the moment and I like how it all came together. Games & Sources Brothers: A Tale Of Two Sons Main Theme :

(Project Track for the Lufia 2 Album) It's been a while, no time like the present to submit this track (along with one other contribution to the Lufia project of mine). This is one of my oldest arrangements to post on OCR (with only the Bionic Commando track I contributed being older by a few months), having started work on it in... 2009. Yes, this is an old one, but it's still to this day one of my favorites, and honestly I can hardly wait to finally show this one off to folk. Got the idea from one of Tyler Heath & Zircon's old Chrono Trigger arrangements (When All Hope has Faded), thought the blend of Orchestra and synths was an idea worth expanding on. Today that's not exactly novel, but back then I didn't hear too many folk blending it like that so I wanted to take a crack at it myself, using synth mixing techniques like gating to samples folk more often try to make as realistic as they can. The arrangement was finished well over a decade ago, but it took a long time for my production skills to catch up with the idea. Samples probably didn't age all that well (Reason heads may recognize Orkester's supremacy in this arrangement), but they work plenty well enough for this arrangement's purpose. In fact outside of the Triangle wave being pulled from Super Audio Kart and the kick being created in Vital most of the instruments are from what was freely available in Reason 5, just remixed (in the traditional sense of the word) and polished to a shine over a decade. There really is something lost when someone gains experience, learning what works and what doesn't, since this arrangement goes places that I probably wouldn't go today that I still really enjoy. I do hope to unlearn some of my tendancies to play it safe someday to get back to some of my weirder, more experimental roots, but in the meantime we've got this ReMix to enjoy! Games & Sources Game: Lufia 2 Source: Theme of Tower

Lucas Guimaraes - Synths (most of em), mix, drums jnWake - Synths, Piano, Synth Bass, Mastering 0:00-0:22 - I tease the main melody a bit here 0:22-0:44 - Main Melody (the very intro of the song) 0:45-1:30 - Main Melody continues 1:30-1:53 - teasing the main melody 1:53-2:16 - background synth plays the main melody 2:16-2:40 - background synth plays 1:06 2:40-3:01 - original solo mostly lol 3:06-end - Main Melody again I think that should be more than enough sources, but jnWake and I would be glad to clarify anything. Diving into this one more... (I'm not gonna leave you hanging like I did with Death's Last Dance) So first, the idea. It was Fresh Month on DoD. I recruited jnWake with the pitch that we would not win any medals, but we would win people's hearts. when I gave him a more detailed pitch of the track, which was basically taking this track and making it chill, similar to HOME's Resonance he was like "I have no idea how you're gonna do it but sure". I got working as quickly as I could. For the arrangement, it's almost similar to Resonance in structure, but we opted for, well, a lot of creative liberties. About the only thing that stayed from it was the main synth, and even that's arguable, as it's playing different notes and in a bit of a different rhythm. Having the template helped, as it made sure I didn't make the arrangement too long (looking at you, Do Re Dedede). I felt pretty good about what I handed off to jnWake before I headed off to Shaky Knees. Looking back, I felt better about how much I gave him after I left break. Initially, he was going to replace some synths, but instead only the bass got replaced (my bass is still in there as a sub bass, haha) and he ended up adding some awesome solo's. I've lately been going for a "Less is more" approach with my sound lately, but this really works in its own way. It's chill enough to still play on in the background, but it's... not really like any other chillwave/chillsynth I've heard out there and I'm really proud of that. edit: For the mix, I bounced a couple of versions and jn encouraged me to push it louder. It might be a lil crunchy, but honestly, it works. I always love it when someone else masters for me or I master for them. And of course, the song title. I was thinking of giving this a serious name, but then I looked at most of my tracks and realized that I never do the joke names. I said to jnWake "I'm half tempted to call this "this is not home resonance"" and he was like "lol we should do it" and I was like "...yeah, actually". It's not home resonance, but it's our little small take on one of the most iconic Synth/Vapor/Chillwave songs. Hope you all enjoy! Games & Sources

Absolutely lovely. A loose and extended improvisation intro is a nice way to ease the listener in before the proper Guile theme enters. 2:52 really liked the octave displacement here and jumping up to the higher register. Great way to signal the end is coming. Total classic, way to bring it back to some of your early days with stuff like Cutman Sonata. Excellent performance, great arrangement; MkVaff. What more can you ask for? YES

Zach's characteristic low-end supplemented with a driving synth bass with cinematic gestures above it are perfect in this soon to be classic take on Corridors of Time and Schala's theme. The mood is both dark and foreboding, but elegant and introspective at the same time. The major highlight for me is the subtleness in the part-writing. The source themes are always present, but if you listen closely to the parts that surround them you will find something new on each listening. The final minute in particular brings the close harmony in the strings, which I'm a huge sucker for. I know I've told you this before, but those sweet color-tensions once again remind me of how much your part writing and orchestration is like James Horner, but also your own at the same time. This is a slam dunk. YES

This one is just a straight cover on slightly different instrumentation. Percussion is different, but midi covers with percussion is not what we're looking for. The track is also very loud and clipping throughout the track with audible artifacts. Sample quality is not ideal as well as they are low quality and unrealistic. We're really wanting to hear your own take on the source with your interpretation, not just a cover. For example, you could consider adding countermelodies, embellishment on the source melody, or 100% brand new sections. Those and more are all valid ways to show us your own take on the track. NO

This is a neat little dance track. Fairly well produced and the source usage is clearly dominant. You do a good job of varying the feel up so it doesn't get too static. I like the genre transformation as well. However, the major issue is that the second half of this track is basically the same as the first half if not an identical copy. I'm not noticing anything different to distinguish it from the first half. While not bad, the beat could use more variation within a section as well. Fills do a great job in this regard and also help with transitions (outside of having to rely on a cymbal crash every time). The second half repeat is really the singular major issue that should be addressed. With either the introduction of new material or removing the repetition/reuse I could see this passing. For now, it's not ready yet. NO

Prophetik did an incredible job articulating the issues on this. So I won't rehash the same points I had as well. I agree with him. I have to start out by mentioning that I liked the idea of doing a reharmonization. I especially like the changes for the chorus, the bass motion (the walk-up) in particular really works for me. However, the chord choices themselves don't really seem to work and fully support what's going on melodically in the voices. Solo was creative but needs work on the rigidity of the sequencing to feel more human. It feels fake in performance, but the tone could be considered to be more convincing and real sounding. When the final chorus starts we get a huge step up in terms of energy in the drums. While I agree this is the right time to step up the energy, the blasting of the kick is not working for me here, and I think that's purely a mixing/production issue (not part writing). The drums are much too loud and forward in the mix here. The production on this is very messy and does need to be addressed. The parts don't sound like they're in the same room with each other, and the vocalists sound unsupported. Their performances sound ok, but just don't sit in the mix with everything else. When all of the parts are playing together they're fighting with each other for space rather than working together to create a single whole. Decide what should be foreground, middle-ground, and background and use the mix to inform the listener what we should be focusing on. Some good ideas here, but the execution of the mix and sequencing did not work out. NO

Heavily suspect AI usage. If not, this heavily samples and relies on source audio. That alone is cause for rejection. There's also audible clipping throughout and is pushed super loud. 5.3 peak! NO

The sequencing of the orchestral elements is not half bad here. In particular, the brass short articulations were executed well. Strings sound like they really could use greater variation in round robins, and the solo violin was heavily exposed. But really not the worst I've heard before. The overall arrangement is fairly conservative structurally sticking very close to the original with a few melodic embellishments. The choice of embellishments was good, but more expansion on structure would have been nice as well. More of your own ideas would be welcome and less Wily 2 is what I'm saying. More variation and development of your ideas, and less repetition and similarity to the source. The major problem is that the track then crossfades into the source in the final 1/3 of the track. Now, there's nothing wrong with, crossfading into another genre that you had created or using a simple chiptune sound to solo or improvise over the orchestra; for example. But utilizing the original source audio directly (or recreated nearly identically) is not acceptable. NO

Strongly suspect this entire track is actually generative AI and no arrangement/ownership was done by it's "creator". That alone gives this a NO WAY IN HELL vote. Really don't care for this track at all, the whole thing is over-compressed. Every kick drum sounds like a trash can filled with the carcasses of actual music fed into a trash compactor. This sounds like clipping and artifacting to me without actually clipping because the peak of the track is -1.9db. Tons of headroom, but this extremely loud kick is exhausting to listen to. High end of the percussion has the over-compressed slosh sound. Also there's an extremely hard cut at 15kHz because the AI stuff was trained on lossy material and lacks high end fidelity. Source usage is questionable to me. There's a similar pattern to the rhythm from the source but I barely make the connection. NO

Fairly straightforward adaption of the source here, but with a ton of personalization in the details. Love all of the melodic embellishment that goes on throughout. The synth that is layered in with the guitar is SUPER fitting. It blends in so well. I figure it was there to help hide the fact that the guitar is vst and not real, but that was executed very nicely. Awesome that you bust out the violin to shred some on there yourself. There was a couple notes here and there that felt ever so slightly behind, but it didn't really bother me. It just helps it feel more human against the sequenced parts in the background. Nice work, production was clean and LOUD. Nice work. Fun ride. YES

A strength of this is that despite it being simple and doesn't have much variation in the actual patterns played. There is always something changing up the texture so it doesn't just seem identical to what just preceded it. The intro bass (0:15) doesn't have the same octave leap up as the source, but still feels like the original because the rhythm is the same, and has the same phrasing. The genre adaption was done well, and the interpretation was unexpected. Very neat idea. The turntablism is awesome. My only real complaint is the sax didn't sound great, especially with it just being repeated notes. It was more exposed than the other elements as well, more wet on the reverb could have helped it blend in more. That said, this was rad and unexpected. YES

This is great, love the genre transformation from the original to this. Downtempo and chill really fit the source well. The production has a nice warmth without feeling blown out or muddy, great work on keeping it clean. The compressor pumping has it's toe on the line of being too much without stepping over and feeling obnoxious. I really liked the original section from 1:36-2:00. Fit in like a glove to the rest of everything else. Changing between sections of this track could have used simple/small drum fills or some kind of transitional effect would have been nice to have -- extra ear candy, but not necessary. Could loop this one for a while. YES

Arrangement aspects of this are in a good place. I applaud the changes made to the original to make this your own, there's a lot of really interesting things going on. With that in mind I would like to see some more development of the melody some as well as variation in the percussion within any given section. The fade out ending isn't great, but not a deal breaker by itself. The improvised soloing in the 1:36 is nice, I'm not 100% sold on a few of the phrases here but it gets the job done. The guys already laid this out pretty well. So I'm not going to rehash a ton of it. The major downfall of this is the production. From sound/sample choices and mixing are low quality. I don't even know why there's a dip in the 2kHz range either. There's a ton of mud in the low end and overall a general lack of clarity. Establish clarity between the parts and a more fullness of sound. Neat ideas, but very much lacking on the production side. NO

Clearly there is not enough source usage in this track, it's an original track with a couple quotes from Zelda. Liontamer's breakdown is accurate. By itself that is no. Even if you are being truthful that the vocals are Ace Studio, they fall into the uncanny valley and are not realistic. It took time to add in breath sounds, but there's a few times where a word will blend right into the next word without a break. No time was taken to craft them into a believable performance. The vocals sound over-processed and super pitch corrected into an inhuman perfection. The percussion sounds over compressed and cymbals are sloshy. NO Now, I want to address the question I had previously asked you in the submission thread. At that time you said that the vocals were generated by Ace Studio. This is a non-generative AI virtual instrument. Our policy does allow for that. However, on your YouTube upload you state that they were Suno AI. Suno IS generative AI, and is not allowed. So either you've willfully lied to us and were disingenuous, or you really don't care about what you're doing and don't care about AI theft. Both avenues are not a good look. I personally think you're not being truthful and did not perform anything in this, it sounds entirely generated to me. From vocals, drums, bass, guitars, everything. If I'm wrong, and if that's the case I'll be glad to eat crow. However, they all still sound unreal and inhuman as well as poorly produced. Please rethink your approach to music if you consider submitting to OCR. This is not the place for AI content.