Hemophiliac   Judges ⚖️

When you say that Good Charlotte and Blink 182 were possibly influences, I agree they definitely had some factor here. This does sound like that early 2000s semi-emo rock style. I think you nailed that. It's a super fun arrangement that highlights all of the parts from the source at one time or another, and the performances are very solid. I have no issues with them. My problem is with the mix/balance. I can't understand the lyrics without following along with the written word because they are buried by the other parts. Their performance is good, no problems with any accent or enunciation issues. It's strictly balance and maybe some EQ'ing. The other parts are standing more forward to me and they cover up the vocals (except the short bit at the beginning when no guitars are playing). If the vocals were more forward featured in the mix I would likely be able to understand what is being said. Everything else in this is awesome and I wish I could give that a pass, but because the balance on the vocals effects the listening experience the whole way through I can't give it the nod. NO (resubmit)

Gotta give it to you H36T this is your most developed arrangement I've heard thus far. Really nice work to take a short source and really expand on it a lot. You keep the Chrono Trigger in the forefront meanwhile including the trademark H36T sound. Vocal samples, dramatic percussion, hand percussion, and orchestra. Despite the added material, this still feels CT dominant to me and time stamping it confirms it. The ritardando just before 2:34 was a nice touch to give some contrast as you kept building energy and dynamic levels up to the climax. Also great macro-dynamics as well because everything is covered here, from whisper quiet to near bombastic levels of loud. The climax does get hefty and dense. It's pushing the edges of what you could include before being too much. I agree with prophetik here, no one part is really carrying the lead and things are trading off and stepping in front of each other for the foreground. Maybe doubling the melodic element you wanted as a focus could help with that. It would keep the energy high but also potentially keep the source melodic focus as the primary. People will dig this and it's nice to see an under appreciated source from CT being turned into a whole new thing. YES

I'm starting to think you're like Arnold Schwarzenegger, you seem to like the pump as much as he does. The pump here though is good, not too overpowering and adds to the fun and forward momentum of the track. The melodic embellishment is great, especially after 0:32. There's a lot of personalization and changing up of sound design which really makes this your own. I too, like Liontamer; really appreciated the chip inclusion as it fits in like gold. The return of the "full band" sound at 2:20 was great after the contrasting quieter section. My nitpick is the same as prophetik's, the sampled vocal clips are too loud for the rest of the track and could be reduced to fit in better. The piano at the end is slightly mechanical but it's mostly covered up by the voice clip so it didn't bother me. It could have just added to further emotional value with some more exaggerated humanization. I love that you chose to come back and revise this one after some time. Bring the pump Treyt! YES

Happy to see Gaspode back in the queue. The approach is always unique, different, and interesting. Took a few listens even with the breakdown to really put two and two together for the source usage. That source melody is kinda buried in there. With that said, it's there. The breakdown is appreciated. I really like the use of space in this. Some dramatic silence as well as vertical space is nice. Minimal without feeling sparse at all. Excellently produced track. The pause right before the bigger sound at 1:20 is a highlight for me, as well the unexpected PWM C64-esque chip sound that comes in around 2:45. Compelling and thoughtful work. Excellently done. YES

The subtle changes and execution here are awesome, Guillaume. The variation in the left hand was done to perfection, changing up the part right when it needed to happen. As you said, it has the "religious sonority" you were talking about with the parallel intervals with An Irrevocable Past. Dynamic and evoking of divinity. I also have to mention the time sig adaption, great choice to change it up. This alone contributes so much to both feeling like the original and new at the same time. So expressive, great work. YES

Whoa whoa whoa, who let the crazy CV clone out into the wild? This source is awesome, and this arrangement is equally awesome. It was not hard to imagine it in this rock/metal style at all, and you pulled it off very well. Some of the part writing does get pretty close and dense, but the mix managed to keep them separate enough to still be clear. Tip-toe that fine line of heavy without being muddy. The drums sound great. My only complaint is the bass feeling on the weaker side, it's just missing some "oomph". But frankly it's still fine where it's at. The drop at 4:05 was excellent. Perfect time to bring the energy down and provided a much needed contrast to the frenetic pace we were on thusfar. I'll take my demons shredded with a side of drums, thank you for serving it up. YES

Later on.mp3 This would be kinda the opening bit, and then have some development and build up more to a bigger feeling later on. Definitely a small group sound to start and then expanding out to full band sound. Haven't spent much time with dynamics/humanization yet. First bit.mp3 edit: the upload put them backwards for some reason. The second audio is the beginning and the first is what would be later into the track. I have a title in mind already for the track which seems fitting for the disc as well: "Four Hearts of Fire"

Volume reduction on saxes helped quite a lot. Would've liked to see some alteration of wet/dry level on reverb to push them back in the soundscape instead of them being so "downstage", but this was definitely a step in the right direction. Nice work

Well this one has come a long way since it's initial rough sketches I heard in the workshop. The arrangement is great and follows the typical "head > solos > head/tag" jazz form. The source was adapted to that well, I do like the reharmonization in places and color added to the chords. Lampie's additions on the piano are excellent, keeps it in the right vibe the whole way through. Production could be sharper, particularly with the tenor sax being so forward and close. Pushing it back with the wet/dry blend on reverb to give it some distance would probably help that. I think the alto would probably benefit from that as well, but doesn't need it as much as the tenor. During the tenor solo, there's a few notes that don't sit within the chord perfectly. When those dissonant notes sit held out for longer values and aren't passing they stand out and feel wrong. If improvising isn't something April is very comfortable with, I would recommend writing out the solo or at least putting some "guidepost notes" in there to help. I felt the vibe and phrasing of the sax solo was fitting, just a couple notes that didn't agree. Is this perfect? It isn't, but that shouldn't stop it from being good enough. YES

0:36 Big drums in the beginning a touch too loud, nitpick. Not a problem. Ostinato repetition is ok, change comes when it's needed. Change to second source was excellent, not abrupt; but felt as if it should have always been there. Source is dominant well throughout the piece, no issues with it's usage. Love the dynamic changes in the piece. Great contrast between the soft and loud. I would've liked to see more percussive change within a given section to prevent it from feeling static, but the overall changes between each structure do keep things moving forward along with the tiny ear-candy moments. The big payoff section does give us more changes with the percussion in this section, but outside of it more tiny variation would be appreciated. All those are nitpicks and don't impact the decision for me. This is great, highly expressive and an awesome track. YES

This is a strong example of something mixed very well that it makes you want to turn up the volume. It's full enough, but not so full that it's overly dense. The arrangement is solid as this crazy source is well represented and there's little tiny additions throughout the piece. My only thought is that there could have been more development with further expansion and soloing, I honestly thought this was going to happen after the vocal clip. Blink and you miss it, strong performances, great mix, sweet genre adaption. Welcome to the club UPA! YES

My complain with the first version was that the balance between parts was off and the humanization of the samples was not ideal. The flute has been improved some by removing some of the chromatic runs, but it still needs improvement on it's humanization. The same goes for the new trumpet lead. Individual notes are static and don't have movement, as well as the line being detached and not legato. Legato samples are not a requirement to get passed, but more attention to their humanization will go a long way in improving the realism. The balance between parts is much better this time around. At 1:04 there's a piano supporting underneath, I don't recall it being in the first version. The part sounds ok, but the piano sample itself does not feel fitting for the style. This version is closer, but still not there as it's being held back by the uncanny valley. Some improvements made, but now other issues have appeared in their place. NO

We were there! Sweet to hear this one live on the day, and really cool to see it now as a submission. The live recording came out really well. The drums in particular are crystal clear. Endless is invisible in the best way possible, supporting without overpowering. My only nitpick is the guitar could be louder, but really this not a problem. Fun performance, absolutely fresh take. Easy vote. YES

There's an energy here for sure, but there's many issues. This is a highly conservative arrangement. Outside of the percussion it's nearly identical to the original source. This is also repetitive to the point that it honestly gets tiresome before we even get to the 2 minute mark. The original isn't very long before it fully loops too (~50 seconds). I would suggest to add some of your own interpretation or change-up some elements from the source. Not only will that help with the repetition but it will add one of the biggest missing elements from this piece: your own unique interpretation and ideas. Having a drop at 1:40 was a good idea, but it's still just playing the same thing, just with less parts. The texture and dynamic contrast is good, but we need some new ideas! Consider adding more textural shifts later into the track or cut repeats to reduce the repetitiveness. The drums don't have much punch to them and honestly feel over compressed. In terms of sound design much of the synths are very plain and vanilla. They could be much more sophisticated and interesting sounding. I don't like to say anything straight up doesn't sound good, but the whistle that enters at 1:53 is unpleasant. Not only does it stand out, but it lasts a long while, it just keeps going and takes a while before we get a break from it. I like the energy you're trying to bring, but there's simply too many problems as is. NO

Goregous, lush, and chill. This is a great soundscape and like prophetik also said, I really appreciate how the pad does have enough attack to register on the beat and not fall behind. The opening of the music box cross-fading into the pad was very neat and I love how subtle the transition is. At 1:00 we start getting some changes to the melody and they are very good. To me they feel very tasteful as if it were almost just an alternate version of the source. 2:00 the energy picks up a little with some additional strength in the drums and stronger accents from other parts, that by itself is helping the piece propel forward without a huge dynamic shift. It feels like there's a very long and slow crescendo throughout the whole song, when we're let down by the same music box that opened up the piece with a short rolled chord. I enjoyed this for it's mellowness as well as the personalization of the melody, didn't get too far away from the source in terms of structure. However, the production is clean and the piece is lovely. YES

Once again, a lovely medley of themes that pair up very well together. And Rebecca, you have crafted and wove them together masterfully in one cohesive tapestry of sound. It's floats through the air and feels so weightless. The lack of dynamics is made up for in changing texture as well as changing sources. Things are always evolving even without much dynamic contrast or change. It's nice to see a small piece being used in the form of Cuckoo Shack. Of course, the Flute Boy as well. That one happens to be one of my favorite little tunes from LttP, I'm happy to hear it receive some coverage. I'm confused by the ending as it has a different feeling than the rest of the piece. It could be you wanted to leave the listener off on a very specific emotion, but I'm not sure what that is supposed to be. This is an artistic choice for sure, but I'm not grokking it. Altogether this is wonderfully put together with fantastic performances from Steven, GotW, and Brooke. YES

Huge heavy metal sound here. The big metal energy is definitely a highlight here. So I'm immediately recognizing the sources as each one comes up, thank you for the breakdown. However, this feels more like a medley than one cohesive song. If there was more material bridging the gap between each song with more fleshed out transitions, it would be better fitting. We get fills between each, but that's not always enough development for it to not feel somewhat sudden. This kind of medley might work well in other places, but that's not what we're looking for in arrangements here. There's a gentle low-mids to mids (~300-1.5k) range scoop and I'm feeling that the bottom end is very full. To me it's not ideal in clarity. The bottom is bigger than the leads, and my attention is more drawn there. As others have mentioned, the synth leads aren't as forward as they should be. The scoop could be partially to blame for that. The lack of clarity seems to get worse as the song progresses, 4:41-4:53 for example. There's an additional drum element here (toms?) combined with everything else just being too much fullness and contributing heavily to muddiness. Performance of the parts sounds good, well timed, but the production and medley-nature of the arrangement are the drawbacks. NO

Sweet, high energy D&B! This is rad. Complete with utter madness in the middle, just how I like it! I have to say, book-ending the wild time changes and drum parts that Madness has with more "regular" dnb in the beginning and end worked very well to create a very interesting contrast. With regards to the Mad Luca section in the middle, I would've liked it better if the individual parts were clearer to the ear. They have a good energy but something about their sound design and mixing choices made them harder to follow the melodic lines here. Not a dealbreaker though. Aside from that the sources are both well represented throughout with clear and distinct sections for both. The production is not bad, the low end rocks and the kick is coming through nicely! Success from chaos! YES

You're right, I did say that I enjoyed your work in progress before, but felt like it needed more. I still feel that even though this one is pretty close right now and feeling borderline. I love the addition of the choir parts and the oboe, they sound beautiful. More adaption and parts added to this that would put this over the bar in terms of arrangement as we've had even more conservative stuff pass before. See: https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR04768 for an example of such. However, in that case there was also genre adaption going on for more personalization. This one feels almost like the same genre even though the instruments are changed. The opening is particularly very close to the original, until 1:07 when the cello enters and is giving some countermelody. The humanization and rigidity is also something needs to be brought up as well. I love Seph's suggestion of adding rubato to bring some more life to the piano part, right now it's very locked into the grid. Also the dynamic range is very small, more contrast and variation would also help the expression really shine through as well. Right now it's more robotic and not as expressive as it could be. Beautiful, but not up to par. NO

This one feels like a throwback to early 2000s OCR trance/dance music such as artists like FFmusic Dj. That's rad. I would have liked this more with the piano line being more humanized with more variation in velocity, but at the same time I recognize that in this genre more rigidity is normal. Surprisingly this isn't as in your face or hard-hitting as I would expect from this genre. As jnWake noted, there is more space to work with to get a bigger sound. That's not at all a knock on this track in particular, just something to consider for the future. No problem with source usage here as there's plenty of being used as well as new sections that are filled with your own interpretation and material. This could have also had a more substantial and definite ending as what is here now does leave you hanging without landing on the 1 or tonic. I don't necessarily feel effuse with praise here, but at the same time you got the job done with solid production and a good arrangement in a throwback-style remix. YES

I want to start out by saying there's some good personalization here and embellishment on the source material that is uniquely you. Good work there. The arrangement is ok, but definitely would not hurt from being expanded upon further more. Use of articulation was also executed well, aside from a couple of the trills. Specifically the trill at 1:01 and 1:07 both sound like they have notes in them that don't fit in with the other parts. 0:47 I'm not sure if it's the trumpet, trumpet + flute, or one of the string parts going a chromatic glissando here, but it's not sounding very idiomatic or good. For being a "treble" chamber piece, the trumpet is overpowering the other parts for most of the piece. It really makes this feel more like a solo trumpet piece rather than a chamber ensemble. Right now it feels like foreground and background parts only. Bringing that trumpet back into the ensemble so it sits amongst the other parts and is a group would be a benefit. A suggestion I would make is to consider swapping a part to a lower instrument like a cello to round out the low end some. That's not a requirement, but a nice to have. I don't have as much of an issue with the samples used as prophetik did, but having them be up front and exposed as they are now does not help them feel more realistic. With a track this short, everything would need to be firing perfectly on all cylinders to pass. Expand this out more, add more variation or another contrasting section, and work on the blend of the parts so they are working together as a group. The personalization is a good start here, but it needs more work on production and arrangement to get it over. NO

One could get nitpicky on this, but things here are totally fine and it's absolutely good enough for the front page. Even if it's an older track. The personalization is there throughout the track, it's just subtle. People will enjoy this for being simple and it still feeling a lot like the source tune. The drum mix is a personal taste, and I think it's fine; even with a big snare. More variation on the drum pattern itself would have been welcomed, but it didn't feel strictly repetitive here. It's a fun little track and should be on the front page. YES

Good follow up to your previous work. Fits right in as a continuation of the story you're telling. The arrangement and orchestration choices are very well done. The dynamics are mostly handled well, and the tempo rubato in the beginning was a nice touch for some extra humanization. 4:17-6:02 was a particularly sparse section and before the timpani joins at 5:20 there could have been some light background textures added to help this space not drag so much. The long slow burn crescendo that follows after was good, and included some spicy harmonic choices that I liked. 7:04 is where things fall short for me, it's the climax and delivery of the theme as we've expected it finally. The upper strings' attack doesn't feel fitting to the drama of this moment, too legato and not enough bite. 7:22 there's a sforzando or fortepiano that didn't seem to work right. The cut to piano there is very abrupt and you don't really have the reverb tail to follow it so it sounds very unnatural. The other thing that felt unnatural was the harp coming through very clearly in the crescendo build to 7:01 and after. In reality the harp would not cut through a full double forte orchestra. While I do have some criticisms I don't feel they were deal breakers and the strength of arrangement and orchestration choices outweighed a few minor issues. YES

Don't need to get too deep on details because this is really solid! Secret Uematsu source I have never heard before, and it feels both like and not-like him as well. Beautifully executed arrangement, the source is fully dominant and it's full of the perfect piano embellishments I would expect to hear. Not everything needs to be super complex or virtuosic to be good and beautiful. YES

Mr. Norvak is back once again with more dark and heavy EDM. After getting through a complete listen through, the number one thing I'm happy to see is that this doesn't suffer from lack of repetition like some of the other submissions of yours I've heard in the past. Good job changing up the sections and adding contrast where it's needed. The master hits pretty hard, but I'm not hearing any over compression or artifacts. The bottom is nice and thick but not too overpowering. The biggest complaint I could make here is the relative lack of dynamics, even in the sparser sections it's still pretty loud and powerful. More dynamic changes within a section could do wonders to help evolve the soundscape. However with the overall lack of dynamic changes the contrast in sparser sections was good enough for me not to feel the piece is too static. The sound design is good with clean production, and there is lots of personalization here. YES