Hemophiliac   Judges ⚖️

First off, thank you for formatting your post in the way that you did, it's very helpful to include the sources and timestamps like that.
On to your bullet points, I'd like to talk about those.
You're asking yourself the right questions, in the way to help be self-critical.  Being self-critical is a very difficult skill to develop.  So, asking these questions and thinking in this manner is a good place to start.
On the first point, low quality instruments.  You are correct, they are very low quality and sound very much like basic MIDI.  This is most apparent in the guitars.  Guitars are among the most difficult instrument to make sound realistic, especially when starting with basic sounds.  The only things I could recommend would be to invest in some quality guitar samples (Impact Soundworks comes to mind on that, IE Shreddage), or search for a guitar player willing to work with you and record the parts.
"Too much to my individual tastes".  I'm not sure what you mean by this.  Do you mean that your arrangement won't be liked by others because it's in your own style?  Nonsense!  Besides, you should be writing for yourself, and not for others (Unless you're getting paid to do it! :P)  Don't worry about what others think, do it because it is fun to you or brings you joy.
As far as the percussion, I can barely make it out because it's much quieter then everything else in the mix.  If you think that it's repetitive, it likely is.  Trust your instincts.
Koi-iro Master Spark is only used for 24 of 162 seconds.  I don't know how to call that too long, you really bounce from source to source so quickly that the listener is barely orienting themselves to a new section before it changes again.
Look for other tracks/remixes/songs that you want your work to sound like, and try to emulate that.  Listen to them side-by-side and note the differences, see what you can change to make your work sound more like the other ones.  Experiment, and try new things.  It is possible to learn and improve, it does take time and practice though.
General thoughts on the track itself:
0:36 sounds like it may be a key change, and that change itself is not prepared so it feels sudden when it happens.  This is in the source for Koi-iro Master Spark, maybe best not to use that part of the track due to the direct and sudden key change?  Throughout the track there's a lot of muddiness and general imbalance of levels between the parts.  I can't really make out what the bass is doing, and the drums are buried most of the time.  The guitar parts and organ-like sound dominate most of the track.  Let them work together to create cohesion and support between all parts.
Generally in medleys the represented ideas usually are developed and not just hopped on for brief moments.  With how quickly each source is visited in this, I get the impression of disjointedness rather then cohesion.  I'd really suggest taking a step back and evaluating what you're going for and do that comparison to other tracks to get the production to a place where it needs to be, then go wild with the arrangement and making medleys.

Awesome to see this Sage business! This is important stuff. Just yesterday I was talking about OC ReMix's rare feedback culture to a musician friend of mine. Can't wait to see what you come up with.

Awesome, this is precisely the kind of criticism I needed! Thank you so much!

To open the synths feel dry.
The open hat sizzle is hot, bring that down ~2db.
The arrangement is solid with plenty of interpretation, but the production is what needs the most work.  The parts don't feel like they blend together for cohesion so much, they feel like they are all the foreground and I'm not sure what I'm supposed to focus on.  The panning is favored to the right it seems, I think it's the open hat just standing out so much.
Open sections like 0:58-1:11 and 2:25-2:54 could benefit from having another soft lead play a countermelody or pads with filter sweeps to fill the space in.
You give us textural contrast by dropping out parts to create less going on but what about dynamics?  Could definitely use some dynamics with the track staying at close to the same level throughout.
Fade out? After 4 minutes, it'd be nice to have a more refined and conclusive ending.
After all of that it's gonna sound like I'm really ragging on this, but it has potential and I want to see you develop it more.

This had a nice slow vibe to it.  I found myself swaying along with the rhythm.  Nice job! :)

Thoughts on the round 1 entries:

Red Harvest vs. Wir Sind Team Peitsche: This one was really close but in the end it came down to production execution.  Both arrangements were very good and mashed up the sources in very creative ways.  I really liked the last section of Wir Sind Team Peitsche with the group chanting.  That was a great way to bring everyone together onto it.
A couple specific notes on Wir Sind Team Peitsche.  The brass in the first 0:36-0:58 is very "blatty".  Would like to hear more humanization on that section for the orchestral samples. 1:53-2:32, I didn't even notice there was chiptune elements here until multiple listens.
Red Harvest: 0:41-0:50 the melody for Brinstar here is very washed out, like when you turn the wet on reverb all the way up and dry all the way down.  IMO it got very buried here.
Adrift Eternal vs. Back in Cold Blood (Dracula Flow): Difficult to vote for a "joke" track.  When I say that I mean, the track was for laughs rather then to be taken very seriously.
Back in Cold Blood: The production on the background work is pretty clean and stands on it's own pretty well.  I know I mentioned it on voice to you, but changing to the Alucard audio at 3:18 of the way through was a good choice to keep the track moving forward and preventing the Dracula Flow bit from being stale.  Good call on the change.  Some percussive elements ping-ponging left/right are a little disorienting.
Adrift Eternal: This is starting to sound like the modus operandi of Emunator at this point.  I have no idea who contributed what on this.  Electronic cinematic take on both themes seamlessly transitions back and forth between sources.  Very well done.  At 4:23 it's suddenly major for some reason did feel a little odd, but I can understand wanting to change the color at the end of the piece to bring more energy.
The Heart of Atlantis vs. No Castle for Old Belmonts:  This was the toughest call of the 3 pairs.  For me I chose No Castle for Old Belmonts due to how the melody was interpreted, used, and embellished upon.  Both had good production, and it came down to arrangement/usage.
The Heart of Atlantis: The organ echoes of the guitar such as at 2:07 and 2:43 were a little awkward for having close intervals in a low register, makes them get harmonically muddy.
No Castle for Old Belmonts: I don't know why, with the title I was expecting this to be country song-like "Take me home country roads".  The bass is a little muddy, sounds like someone humming doubling the bass in the first ~minute or so.  Not sure if that is a production issue or recording thing.  The guitar playing from 2:57 to the end is fantastic and I absolutely love the embellishment here.  Whip sfx towards the end is fitting and I'm surprised I had not heard it in any of the other tracks at this point.  Production could have been a spoiler on this one, but I preferred the arrangement here.

Thoughts on the round 1 entries:

Red Harvest vs. Wir Sind Team Peitsche: This one was really close but in the end it came down to production execution.  Both arrangements were very good and mashed up the sources in very creative ways.  I really liked the last section of Wir Sind Team Peitsche with the group chanting.  That was a great way to bring everyone together onto it.
A couple specific notes on Wir Sind Team Peitsche.  The brass in the first 0:36-0:58 is very "blatty".  Would like to hear more humanization on that section for the orchestral samples. 1:53-2:32, I didn't even notice there was chiptune elements here until multiple listens.
Red Harvest: 0:41-0:50 the melody for Brinstar here is very washed out, like when you turn the wet on reverb all the way up and dry all the way down.  IMO it got very buried here.
Adrift Eternal vs. Back in Cold Blood (Dracula Flow): Difficult to vote for a "joke" track.  When I say that I mean, the track was for laughs rather then to be taken very seriously.
Back in Cold Blood: The production on the background work is pretty clean and stands on it's own pretty well.  I know I mentioned it on voice to you, but changing to the Alucard audio at 3:18 of the way through was a good choice to keep the track moving forward and preventing the Dracula Flow bit from being stale.  Good call on the change.  Some percussive elements ping-ponging left/right are a little disorienting.
Adrift Eternal: This is starting to sound like the modus operandi of Emunator at this point.  I have no idea who contributed what on this.  Electronic cinematic take on both themes seamlessly transitions back and forth between sources.  Very well done.  At 4:23 it's suddenly major for some reason did feel a little odd, but I can understand wanting to change the color at the end of the piece to bring more energy.
The Heart of Atlantis vs. No Castle for Old Belmonts:  This was the toughest call of the 3 pairs.  For me I chose No Castle for Old Belmonts due to how the melody was interpreted, used, and embellished upon.  Both had good production, and it came down to arrangement/usage.
The Heart of Atlantis: The organ echoes of the guitar such as at 2:07 and 2:43 were a little awkward for having close intervals in a low register, makes them get harmonically muddy.
No Castle for Old Belmonts: I don't know why, with the title I was expecting this to be country song-like "Take me home country roads".  The bass is a little muddy, sounds like someone humming doubling the bass in the first ~minute or so.  Not sure if that is a production issue or recording thing.  The guitar playing from 2:57 to the end is fantastic and I absolutely love the embellishment here.  Whip sfx towards the end is fitting and I'm surprised I had not heard it in any of the other tracks at this point.  Production could have been a spoiler on this one, but I preferred the arrangement here.

Thoughts on the round 1 entries:

Red Harvest vs. Wir Sind Team Peitsche: This one was really close but in the end it came down to production execution.  Both arrangements were very good and mashed up the sources in very creative ways.  I really liked the last section of Wir Sind Team Peitsche with the group chanting.  That was a great way to bring everyone together onto it.
A couple specific notes on Wir Sind Team Peitsche.  The brass in the first 0:36-0:58 is very "blatty".  Would like to hear more humanization on that section for the orchestral samples. 1:53-2:32, I didn't even notice there was chiptune elements here until multiple listens.
Red Harvest: 0:41-0:50 the melody for Brinstar here is very washed out, like when you turn the wet on reverb all the way up and dry all the way down.  IMO it got very buried here.
Adrift Eternal vs. Back in Cold Blood (Dracula Flow): Difficult to vote for a "joke" track.  When I say that I mean, the track was for laughs rather then to be taken very seriously.
Back in Cold Blood: The production on the background work is pretty clean and stands on it's own pretty well.  I know I mentioned it on voice to you, but changing to the Alucard audio at 3:18 of the way through was a good choice to keep the track moving forward and preventing the Dracula Flow bit from being stale.  Good call on the change.  Some percussive elements ping-ponging left/right are a little disorienting.
Adrift Eternal: This is starting to sound like the modus operandi of Emunator at this point.  I have no idea who contributed what on this.  Electronic cinematic take on both themes seamlessly transitions back and forth between sources.  Very well done.  At 4:23 it's suddenly major for some reason did feel a little odd, but I can understand wanting to change the color at the end of the piece to bring more energy.
The Heart of Atlantis vs. No Castle for Old Belmonts:  This was the toughest call of the 3 pairs.  For me I chose No Castle for Old Belmonts due to how the melody was interpreted, used, and embellished upon.  Both had good production, and it came down to arrangement/usage.
The Heart of Atlantis: The organ echoes of the guitar such as at 2:07 and 2:43 were a little awkward for having close intervals in a low register, makes them get harmonically muddy.
No Castle for Old Belmonts: I don't know why, with the title I was expecting this to be country song-like "Take me home country roads".  The bass is a little muddy, sounds like someone humming doubling the bass in the first ~minute or so.  Not sure if that is a production issue or recording thing.  The guitar playing from 2:57 to the end is fantastic and I absolutely love the embellishment here.  Whip sfx towards the end is fitting and I'm surprised I had not heard it in any of the other tracks at this point.  Production could have been a spoiler on this one, but I preferred the arrangement here.

Thoughts on the round 1 entries:

Red Harvest vs. Wir Sind Team Peitsche: This one was really close but in the end it came down to production execution.  Both arrangements were very good and mashed up the sources in very creative ways.  I really liked the last section of Wir Sind Team Peitsche with the group chanting.  That was a great way to bring everyone together onto it.
A couple specific notes on Wir Sind Team Peitsche.  The brass in the first 0:36-0:58 is very "blatty".  Would like to hear more humanization on that section for the orchestral samples. 1:53-2:32, I didn't even notice there was chiptune elements here until multiple listens.
Red Harvest: 0:41-0:50 the melody for Brinstar here is very washed out, like when you turn the wet on reverb all the way up and dry all the way down.  IMO it got very buried here.
Adrift Eternal vs. Back in Cold Blood (Dracula Flow): Difficult to vote for a "joke" track.  When I say that I mean, the track was for laughs rather then to be taken very seriously.
Back in Cold Blood: The production on the background work is pretty clean and stands on it's own pretty well.  I know I mentioned it on voice to you, but changing to the Alucard audio at 3:18 of the way through was a good choice to keep the track moving forward and preventing the Dracula Flow bit from being stale.  Good call on the change.  Some percussive elements ping-ponging left/right are a little disorienting.
Adrift Eternal: This is starting to sound like the modus operandi of Emunator at this point.  I have no idea who contributed what on this.  Electronic cinematic take on both themes seamlessly transitions back and forth between sources.  Very well done.  At 4:23 it's suddenly major for some reason did feel a little odd, but I can understand wanting to change the color at the end of the piece to bring more energy.
The Heart of Atlantis vs. No Castle for Old Belmonts:  This was the toughest call of the 3 pairs.  For me I chose No Castle for Old Belmonts due to how the melody was interpreted, used, and embellished upon.  Both had good production, and it came down to arrangement/usage.
The Heart of Atlantis: The organ echoes of the guitar such as at 2:07 and 2:43 were a little awkward for having close intervals in a low register, makes them get harmonically muddy.
No Castle for Old Belmonts: I don't know why, with the title I was expecting this to be country song-like "Take me home country roads".  The bass is a little muddy, sounds like someone humming doubling the bass in the first ~minute or so.  Not sure if that is a production issue or recording thing.  The guitar playing from 2:57 to the end is fantastic and I absolutely love the embellishment here.  Whip sfx towards the end is fitting and I'm surprised I had not heard it in any of the other tracks at this point.  Production could have been a spoiler on this one, but I preferred the arrangement here.

Thoughts on the round 1 entries:

Red Harvest vs. Wir Sind Team Peitsche: This one was really close but in the end it came down to production execution.  Both arrangements were very good and mashed up the sources in very creative ways.  I really liked the last section of Wir Sind Team Peitsche with the group chanting.  That was a great way to bring everyone together onto it.
A couple specific notes on Wir Sind Team Peitsche.  The brass in the first 0:36-0:58 is very "blatty".  Would like to hear more humanization on that section for the orchestral samples. 1:53-2:32, I didn't even notice there was chiptune elements here until multiple listens.
Red Harvest: 0:41-0:50 the melody for Brinstar here is very washed out, like when you turn the wet on reverb all the way up and dry all the way down.  IMO it got very buried here.
Adrift Eternal vs. Back in Cold Blood (Dracula Flow): Difficult to vote for a "joke" track.  When I say that I mean, the track was for laughs rather then to be taken very seriously.
Back in Cold Blood: The production on the background work is pretty clean and stands on it's own pretty well.  I know I mentioned it on voice to you, but changing to the Alucard audio at 3:18 of the way through was a good choice to keep the track moving forward and preventing the Dracula Flow bit from being stale.  Good call on the change.  Some percussive elements ping-ponging left/right are a little disorienting.
Adrift Eternal: This is starting to sound like the modus operandi of Emunator at this point.  I have no idea who contributed what on this.  Electronic cinematic take on both themes seamlessly transitions back and forth between sources.  Very well done.  At 4:23 it's suddenly major for some reason did feel a little odd, but I can understand wanting to change the color at the end of the piece to bring more energy.
The Heart of Atlantis vs. No Castle for Old Belmonts:  This was the toughest call of the 3 pairs.  For me I chose No Castle for Old Belmonts due to how the melody was interpreted, used, and embellished upon.  Both had good production, and it came down to arrangement/usage.
The Heart of Atlantis: The organ echoes of the guitar such as at 2:07 and 2:43 were a little awkward for having close intervals in a low register, makes them get harmonically muddy.
No Castle for Old Belmonts: I don't know why, with the title I was expecting this to be country song-like "Take me home country roads".  The bass is a little muddy, sounds like someone humming doubling the bass in the first ~minute or so.  Not sure if that is a production issue or recording thing.  The guitar playing from 2:57 to the end is fantastic and I absolutely love the embellishment here.  Whip sfx towards the end is fitting and I'm surprised I had not heard it in any of the other tracks at this point.  Production could have been a spoiler on this one, but I preferred the arrangement here.

Very chill and lush texture.  Quite enjoyable.  Production sounds better on this one, compared to the last.  The kick is not overpowering this time :)
I am feeling the source plenty here, again like the previous i'd like to hear more of your own ideas imparted onto it.  Could be things like more melodic development, countermelodies, reharmonization, a new original section maybe.  The dynamic level stays pretty constant throughout as well, some contrast there would be good.  You did a good job of delivering textural contrast.
Since this stays relatively sparse throughout the track adding more energy as you go along would be really helpful.  You do change things up texturally at the right times, so the 4 minutes does breeze by, but it could really go to the next level with more (see earlier comment about adding more of your own).  The feel is mostly the same as the original, which there isn't anything wrong with, it just means you need to add more of your own flavors and spices to get it by.  Really consider that if you plan on submitting.

Hey thx for the feedback. I don't often get anything constructive from most people, so I'm glad that you showcased clear criticisms in my work that I plan to improve upon. ❤️

The main issue I've noticed is the imbalance between the percussion and the rest of the parts.  The kick is much louder then the rest of the parts.
While the original source does go ham with that decending arp through the whole track, it would be nice to get a break from it or a change of pattern.  Something just to give some contrast to the texture of the piece.  You do a good job of changing the other parts up at good times to keep the interest going especially with it being a longer piece.  When we get to 3:50 in particular it's lovely because the textural change feels so impactful.
It does feel very much like First Steps still because the sound design choices feel very similar to the original too.
Aside from the kick being too loud, there really isn't much else "wrong" with it.  If you plan on submitting to OCR I would strongly considering adding some more of your own variation and vibe to the track.  Also, some more humanization, especially with note velocities.
I enjoyed the track's mellowness.  It is pretty.

@Hemophiliac consider us even for "Steeling Hearts" ?
but in all seriousness, i loved "You're Not From This Town!"

This really encapsulated the warmth and inclusiveness of Mr. Rogers.  It brings so much joy and happiness to me when I listen to it that I can't help but smile.
I'm really glad you kicked my butt in the third round of the compo with this, and I'm glad it's on the front page.

The main issue I've noticed is the imbalance between the percussion and the rest of the parts.  The kick is much louder then the rest of the parts.
While the original source does go ham with that decending arp through the whole track, it would be nice to get a break from it or a change of pattern.  Something just to give some contrast to the texture of the piece.  You do a good job of changing the other parts up at good times to keep the interest going especially with it being a longer piece.  When we get to 3:50 in particular it's lovely because the textural change feels so impactful.
It does feel very much like First Steps still because the sound design choices feel very similar to the original too.
Aside from the kick being too loud, there really isn't much else "wrong" with it.  If you plan on submitting to OCR I would strongly considering adding some more of your own variation and vibe to the track.  Also, some more humanization, especially with note velocities.
I enjoyed the track's mellowness.  It is pretty.

I've been staffing it for awhile - definitely will show up for the panel but aside from that yea hit me up if there's any gatherings

(also always wild seeing a 315 number even though I knew you were in that area)

Welcome!  It's never a bad time to start trying to arrange music.  Even just "canoodling" over other tracks is a good way to start expanding on the original.

I'll be there!  Looking forward to attending for the first time!

I'll be there!  Looking forward to attending for the first time!

Happy New Year, everyone!
Just wanted to check-in and let you all know that we've got a new submissions process for remixes. Since the inception of the site, we've been asking you to host your file somewhere and send us an email with a bunch of information about your remix. This has lead to a lot of headaches on both your end and our end, but now we're finally moving forward with a more modern method.
Introducing the new Submissions Tracking page! We've used our forum software to build out a custom form where you can upload your track directly to us. This post will get a status and linked to a decision thread, and it also features a comments section where judges can communicate with you about issues with your remix. Submissions are private, so only you and the judges can see them. In the coming months we'll be retiring the old email method of submitting remixes with an auto-response that'll direct folks towards the new system.
This new form, combined with our recently revamped Currently in the Judging Process dashboard, will help you keep tabs on your submissions.
A big shout out to all of the ReMixers and Judges who helped me test out this new system. I've had ideas for years for turning our submissions and judging workflows into a fully integrated piece of software, and while the limitations of our forum software prevent us from hitting that goal 100%, this is a huge step in the right direction.
I'm looking forward to hearing what you all are going to send us. ?
— DarkeSword

i'll be there friday and saturday! OCR has a panel and i'm looking forward to meeting y'all in person :)

I'll probably drop by for some but not all of it. Sarah may or may not join.

I don't want to post my phone number on the intarwebz, but if anybody wants my cell # you can DM me here, discord, or facebook

I don't see a thread already for this so I guess I start it... who is going to be at MAGFest 2024?
I'm going for the first time in several years; if there's an OCR group hangout or anything happening, feel free to text me at 315-744-2839. Looking forward to it!

Got a last minute entry in.
This compo was a great learning ground for me when I was first getting started.  I'm grateful that I had the compo as a means to experiment and get feedback as a new arranger.  Knowing that it this was coming to a close, I had to do something even if it is small.
Thank you to @Bundeslang, @Doulifée, @Rexy and anyone else I may be forgetting who ran PRC at some point.