Rexy

If you want I could join in; ironically so I've done more moody stuff than anything, according to my VGMix bio. O.o Anyways, tracks showing my current ability. Let's scoop out a few samples and crap. "Snowflakes" (piano variation on Ichitootah's "Winter Steppe" for ORC22) "Anguished Beyond Words" (this *was* going to be the site's first Dragon Warrior 2 mix, but the judges rejected it in the last minute... ouch) "Time's Anxiety" (covering Castlevania: CotM's Clock Tower theme, and it was this piece that made me move onto the finals for RPGamer.com's Splendid Performance contest) I hope this is as deep as we can get it O.o

Sure, I'll see if I can write something about both tracks Shouldn't be too much of a problem, ney?

Well yeah, I should have finished this sooner but I still have something to slip in nonetheless. Apologies O.o Sonic the Hedgehog SEGA 1991 Sonic is the mascot character for SEGA (replacing Alex Kidd in 1991), thus having featured in a series of videogames established by said videogame corporation. The games were often seen going head-to-head against those of Nintendo's Mario series from the first game's exposure through to SEGA's departure from the console market, and since then Sonic's adventures were moved onto other consoles. Most gamers know him by his cobalt blue body, his faster-than-the-speed-of-sound running and his rolling jump and spinning attacks. Sonic also doesn't have one set timeline; several variations of his story were seen since the first game's release, whether seen in the earlier titles, the comic strips, publications in the US/UK, the movie, its 4 TV shows or the post-Sonic Adventure titles. The basic storyline for the games themselves show Dr Ivo Robotnik (later referred as Dr Eggman from Sonic Adventure onwards) developing a scheme to take over the world, and it's up to Sonic to put a stop to him by going through many levels (often referred to as "acts") to reach his goal. On top of that, collecting the Chaos Emeralds (usually seven) in the game's "Special Stages" would bring the player to the game's good ending sequences. Within his time, Sonic was shown to have surprassed Mario on various occasions, and has even showed light cameos in other SEGA exclusives and an episode of The Simpsons, as well as having a fruit fly embryonic development gene named after him. Source: Wikipedia page Sonic has appeared in many games, but those that have been covered for remixing are as follows: SEGA GENESIS Sonic the Hedgehog (1991) Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (1992) Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (1994) Sonic & Knuckles (1994) Sonic Crackers (never got released, but was made in 1994) Sonic 3D Blast (Genesis) (1996) SEGA MASTER SYSTEM Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Master System) (1992) SEGA CD Sonic CD (1993) SEGA GAME GEAR Sonic the Hedgehog: Triple Trouble (1994) SEGA SATURN Sonic 3D Blast (Saturn) (1996) SEGA DREAMCAST Sonic Adventure (1998) Sonic Adventure 2 (2001)

I've looked into my VGMix mailbox today and I got mail from Reuben Kee. He said he uploaded the backing music to the FTP yesterday.

Haha, for a first (and maybe last) time I'd visit the VGF chatroom it was a blast getting to see the people there. If only if I was able to listen into the ruddy show... Anyways, let's see VGF keep going and crap

Which I will do this Sunday

Are you still looking for artists though? Because I'm thinking of giving Team Iceland a go I may not do much on it until I return to campus though.

And so that plots my timetable for the next few Sunday mornings: Saturday Morning to afternoon time: Take time out in the music labs as usual 5PM: Return home and get a chinese around 6PMish: Go to sleep for a bit Sunday 2:30AM: Get awoken by alarm, boot up comp and listen to VGF; do phone-in if some kind of occasion was going on Rest of Sunday: Survive in Music Labs with lots of hot chocolate... ...but whatif I'm too excited to sleep?

Just out of question, does anyone have a way I can contact Russel Cox? I tried emailing him but apparantly his email on the forums doesn't exist

Whoa dude, VGF is back for a third season? Nice. Now how about hosting them damn eps

Wow, this is making me think how this thing is still standing after so long. Was this before easter it made its start? Must be some time after Hedgehog Heaven at least. From the minimal amount of tracks I've heard I've managed to see some interesting results out here. And even so it'll be great to see what will be presented for the deadline. But yeah, let's see this keep moving on and on. KFC knows it, and Snapple knows it too, but this has come a very long way since its shaken start. And as one of those people that have been there since the beginning, I can say this project has gone through a lot to make sure it has reached this stage - near completion. Thank you very much, everyone *bearhug*

Have the cuts been announced yet? We know they were meant to come yesterday, but the suspense is killing us

I also see that people are avoiding Ice Cap like the plague. O_o I might have a stab if worst comes to worst.

If worst comes to worst, i'll do it. I'd probably only establish MIDIs before heading back to college though. Chances are if that's the case I probably won't start work until I come back from France, which will be next weekend. Heck, the college synth library will be fun to work with when I get my paws on it O.O

If they're not already taken, I'd do some of the Sonic charries. Nonetheless, interesting to see you're going to shine a light on the project "mascots", I see

Dude, now I know that A Viper in the Distance is so gonna pass. But eh... any updates on the episode/pimp fronts?

Koelsch1 may have already posted this on the Minibosses board, but I couldn't help influence a few more votes for the Liontamer option:

Dude, if Israfel was still in the game i'd be humping the vote button all over. No worries, I'll think carefully over this one while looking on at the selections out there. Thank God you didn't mention anything about the DoD aftermath, or I would have exploded I'm not Trick, but he arranged two sources from the game - the castle theme and the prologue music. Just for clarification purposes

Who would have thought that a track first exposed to the web (via the DoD) three weeks ago would arrive to OCR just as fast? Then again, how can I complain ever since I am a very big fan of Darangen's work? Heck, we were both there for both competitions, and I especially have some fond memories remaining for the second audition of RPGamer's "Splendid Performance" contest. Even though he passed and I (still) didn't, it was great fun for what it was. He was all "these entries are amazing, I doubt I'll pass" and I was all "you'll make it, you've got hot stuff", and seeing him score third place in both contests was well placed in my book. He should have scored higher in the SP audition IMO, but even here I'm interested to see what he coughs up in the final round for said contest come October. So now I'm game to see how far he has gone with his latest effort, covering a theme that I believe he also approached nearly a year ago with Omen of the Prophet. And wow, it's been a while since I last showed a full write-up for him (the last one I did being Deadly Promises at VGMix), so it's time I got back in the habit on this one. --- Remix Well I can't find the stated Frog reference anywhere, but there's definitely a lot of Magus going on here. It has shown some truth to the original, and in my book it's shown to be a lot stronger than some of the other adaptations I've seen on the site so far. The overall execution of the instruments leading from one place to another is well thought out for what it was; nothing much in terms of tuning quirks that can be seen on that particular side of the fence. Even here there's some tasteful variation on the theme by a lot of solo work and countermelodies scattered throughout, as well as a fair amount of rhythmic playing around by the second permutation. The structuring of this has also done well for a rock mix - two adaptations, a solo rush, a final adaptation of the source material and its closure. I don't see it as a no-brainer - I see it to cooperate firm enough to the point to fit what the song was seeking for. Personally I thought the ending was a bit sudden with the drop out to the pitch-shifting Magus laugh, but the technical side on seeing that push out was clever enough for site acceptance. While I've seen some sharper conceptual ideas from Darangen, this is still very solid in my book and something that I will take in for much of the piece's duration. Creativity In terms of life being breathed into the mix I'd definitely point on at some of the solos and a fair amount of artistic visions captured within the general performance to be able to match with the often-seen-as-sinful characteristics behind Magus. While I was hoping for some more areas that aid in doing so, this setting was still clever enough to fit what was being searched for. Fortunately, for structured rock it has been able to show just as many transitions to different sections of the theme and the creative parts as there were with those that work well tonally, so we can say this is a flowing song all the way through. "Fresh" may be the wrong word to portray when it comes to expressing the overall edge as granted towards the piece, but there is definitely enough attention taken towards the varied moods, especially with some of the lighter ones with the acoustic guitar and the flute synth leading the way and the more energetic ones with the more overdriven textures taken into account. Repetition on various segments of the track is few and far between; if anything I'd probably say some of the riffs and percussion, but most of these are used tastefully to be able to spice up the backing every now and again. Personally I can say I enjoyed the arrangement as it stood; while not quite the best out of Mike's material it's still got plenty to keep the audience happy, and kudos for that. Production The samples chosen are pretty tasteful, although some of which seemed to be a bit watered down since his last synth-included OCR posting with Warriors of Light. The FX is great, I'd tell you that, but I think that he could have been able to find some sharper sound fonts for the choir and flute for free. Even so the flute sounds a bit on the fake side, although that can be pointing towards the idea of using a keyboard in his live instrument setting for the In The Band audition. Nonetheless it's still fine. In terms of overall EQ power there's definitely plenty granted towards the drums; can be argued that the low-end seemed to dominate the sound a bit too much so it may have helped to roll some of that off a bit, but the sounds are still strongly emphasized for his target audience. The recorded guitars here may sound a bit more distant than the usual, but the overall tone is still just as sharp as we expect from Dar's work here, so that's firm to know. Although not quite as sharp on the overall attack as expected from him, it's definitely there to give in the edge that was needed. Those didn't seem to peeve me that much, but I still stand by the one thing I said about the sound levels during the latter contest's judging process, mainly the one that I thought the tom rolling during the chorus areas seemed to drown out a fair amount of the musical components. Even with that in mind I can't imagine the rhythmic backing for a Magus mix any better myself. As for the panning the instruments have been spaced out well enough to capture that real band environment; while I was hoping for some wider panning between the rhythmic guitars here to add in more of that energetic space, there's still plenty of thought that has carried this forward. So yeah, I know I have criticized this portion quite a bit, but that's probably because I've seen some tighter production techniques from this user; regardless, this is still cool enough to absorb and will go down well with the target fan base. --- I know djp's involvement with Darangen's material through much of his contributions towards the site, and even through listening to every single one of his VG remixes during his stay around the community I can tell that he has built up a heck of a lot in terms of technical strength. So I personally feel the direct posting was well required. Some people may not look past its rock structure and see it for what it was (groove bias? j/k), but myself I found it to be an involving track that what I feel truly deciphers the musical meaning behind Magus. Although I feel that some of the technical aspects could have been given a little bit more of an overhaul, it's still very firm and fitting for those who want to hear more pieces within this user's collection. Once again, congrats with the DoD placement, way to go on passing the SP audition, and best of luck with your future music out there. You know I'll still be there all the way

So I finally played the game, and now I've managed to understand the compositional beauty behind this This is a very interesting incorporation of the Ice Cream Islands theme that has showed a very energetic and spacious feel to the Lil Traveller theme, and something I can associate with the world of powerups across the Kirby universe. I did write a brief comment upon the project's release, and now it's time I went full on here. Hope you don't mind? --- Remix From the moment the flute came in, I am familiarized greatly with the source material, so that can say it has managed to fit as a Kirby arrangement well enough. For most of its duration the execution is very strong and well planned out; got a similar grungy feel to Braving the Flames but I dig it. It can be argued that some of the backing synths at 0:50 seemed a bit on the dissonant side but that shouldn't be too much of a problem. There is a heck of a lot of variation on the theme, and that has been shown by changing the key on the second half of which as well as a good amount of playing around with the rhythms second time through. The structuring is also pretty interesting; while some may feel to be a bit sudden, I feel that they have incorporated the feel of the many "transformations" that Kirby has gone through within the game, so I can associate with much of the artistic visions as shown in this. In terms of standing alone, this has to be one of the strongest mixes within the project hands down, and it's for more than just the execution factor; a great amount of creativity and pure heart being placed upon the creation has easily aided to create a very interesting piece overall. Creativity Much of the creativity - and in turn, most of the elements that have breathed life into the song - are shown on the technical emphasis behind most of the track sub-sections, and even here I appreciate much of the change of moods shown throughout as well as the change of progressions at 3:23; that added well enough to emphasize on a climatic feel at its right time in the mix. The segments link together fairly well here; some may argue that there could be too much going on to make them transition well, but myself I am fitting strongly on AB's artistic side being expressed just as much as its presentation. The variety of moods has also added to a lot of fresh pacing throughout, so it can be said that no two areas sound the same. That in turn has also affected much of the repetition factor; I can barely find any in this piece whatsoever, and so it has been able to focus well enough to entertain its audience. So given what has been shown in this side of the contribution, I loved a great deal of what managed to come through the adaptation, and can easily see it as fitting for the Lil' Traveller title. Production Most of the samples are pretty impressive and fitting for what we come to see with his work; I can't say I was too down with the flute choice here, but there's still just as much interesting sounds to help it blend in just fine. Even here the range of EQs and processes are very brash and clear as well as aiding towards the different types of ambience as shown throughout the piece, so I can say it has stood well to make it fitting. Even the sound levels are well rounded for an AB mix, so I can't sense much wrong on that aspect. One thing that did rub me the wrong way though was the panning; while there's some strong positioning techniques going throughout the track, some of the techniques in the opening and closing stages seemed to feel a little bit uneasy. Going towards the opening I dig the pan shift techniques upon the psychedelic pad FX in the background, adding to that cosmic feel towards the arrangement, but it can be argued that either the panning range should be a bit smaller to fit with the sound balance or should be a bit faster to even it out. And as for the closure, the ending music box was a cool thing to use although I think it might have helped with some stereo ambience to better add towards the feel of its current situation. Nonetheless this is still mightily impressive stuff; not quite seen as his best tech approach but it's definitely interesting, and a great way to come back after his stellar contributions in Relics of the Chozo and Kong in Concert. --- The entire project has got some good stuff to listen to, and it's good to see we have some established mixers on the scene coming back to fill the spots out there. Choosing AB's mix as the first single from is is a big step, and it works for creating a variative and interesting feel towards its audience, especially within the earlier half of the album. Any quirks some people point out may be preferences, although for me they work to create a very epic mix for the site to take in. If there will be any more singles from the Kirby project, I'll be glad. If there will be more mixes from AB, I'll also be glad. Nonetheless, props to making this mix work out

I’ll be honest and say that I have barely heard many Final Doom mixes here at all, or any of Redlight’s previous tracks for that matter. But I can say that this one definitely geared up well as a fresh release. It’s got a fun packed sound that has added a lighter side to electronica that sounded pretty close to the Spin Jam game music in terms of compositional concept, and for that I feel it’s done well. So it’s only fair that as long as I’m here I share my extensive feedback to it --- Remix Because I haven't heard the source material or played the game for that matter, I can't answer any questions relating to its relationship to it or its variance from the theme. But in terms of structure we have some good stuff coming here; tonally, everything has good connections for an electroinca track, especially with the good range of effects that have also managed to come through for what they were. I also think the structuring of the mix was well thought out for the break beat genre, and has worked well to maintain that feel that has often been carried over through the Doom series musical score. Given that this is my first exploration towards Final Doom coverage I found it to be cool enough to listen to, and has adapted well in developing a well-rounded concept to present to his audience. Creativity I think much of the creative aspects of the track have helped make it shine in terms of compositional concept, which have been shown with a great amount of switching moods and progressions to better fit the genre. I found the light transition into some Drum n' Bass at around the 2 minute mark to be very clever and does well to add more of a lift towards the overall atmosphere. If I knew the source I'd probably gesture at the linking sections better, but even here the link from one portion of the mix to another still felt rather clean to take in through my ears. In terms of developing a fresh pace the moods are practically the same all the way through, but even here there's just as much energy to keep the fans of the genre well entertained and appreciative of what has come through. If there's any repetition I could point at the drums but that's not too much of a concern; it still was able to work well enough for me. In terms of the entertainment factor I would have enjoyed this a bit more had I been familiar with the game's music. Even here it's a great listen if you're into the genre, so it'll be worth an interesting gander over. Production The synths are well chosen for the job and have emphasized enough feel to make it stand out towards its part of the scene. So I can say in terms of sound sampling he's got a very good set to make his own. Mind you I thought the EQs on the bass were a bit too much at the start, so it may have helped to tone that down. It was argued that some of the sounds felt a bit dense but some of the other effects like the pitch bending, some components of distortion and high/low pass filters have done well to add a great amount of flavor towards the processing. I think one thing that might have brought the mix down a bit had to be towards some of the leveling techniques that came through, and that had to be a disturbance of light "crackles" in the left speaker, which were first evident by the addition of the tambourine into the track at 0:27. I found it to be lightly disturbing in terms of its technical side, but even here the instrumentation is still very bold and brash and fitting towards the genre. I didn't sense as much complexities in the panning techniques either, but there's still a lot of accuracy taken towards the instrumentation placements here as well as some of the texture work. So while I feel that some of the tech aspects - most especially the sound levels - kind of rubbed on me the wrong way, it was still pretty interesting to absorb and cast towards the site for what it was. Good stuff here. --- So yeah, this sounds very cool for something as it was here. Personally I think with some of the blemishes it had here it should have gone to the judges, but even here I am very, VERY impressed with some of the structure based concepts on board here. For flowing electronica it’s definitely got the structure to make it work, and with plenty of melodic ideas to make it ease out too I think this has managed to get out there as a pretty thoughtful mix for an otherwise often under-looked game. (Sorry TO…) In any case, I found it enjoyable to listen to and should point it in the direction of any Doom gamers out there. It’ll be interesting to be able to hear more from you at some point or other

I think I have another question to ask; what happened to Nuts's classified partner for Hidden Palace? Sorry to see Hadyn was kicked off though

Well, just to clarify, after Joel read the in-progress judges decision vote that I sent him (at the time 4Y/5N), he really did a phenomenal job revising this mix thanks to some perspective from other judges as well as listening to the mix again with a fresh set of ears. If the posted form of this mix had hit the panel with the production & arrangement revisions it now has, it would have easily went 4Y, though I'd honestly say that it would have been direct posted actually. Yeah, I understand that he put up a revised version during the posting process. Even if you do say it would easily go 4Y, that's one black man's opinion Still think it would have been close though. If it's McVaffe I swear I will bear hug the hell out of everyone I see.

Sweet, new Jivemaster. During my early days of downloading music here, this guy dominated a good amount of my playlist and to see him come back with some more material after a 3 year hiatus brighened up a good part of the past week for me. I did have some thought over the qualities of degrading elder mixers over time, but with other people achieving similar feats on this site recently (Shael Riley, Krispy and EgM spring to mind here) it’s inevitable that they still have what it takes, and I respect that. So yeah, having checked out a good range of his material in the past it’s fair that I come back with some feedback on this one. --- Remix As a fellow Sonic fan/mixer, I can say that similarities to both sources are pretty much evident here, which is what I have often come to expect from Jivemaster's work. I understand this is a remake of a creation from 3 years ago, but there are some parts of the execution that could have been looked into - going towards that opening synth in the intro, I wasn't too down with some of the B flats and E flats in the opening progressions; that made the music sound a bit more menacing than the usual if not a bit too chaotic. Some may also think that the restriction of the chord structures in the Lava Reef section have brought that area down, but for me I found it to showcase in a pleasing fashion. There's plenty of variance on some of the backing components of the theme as well as a good amount of original components to be able to make it stand out. I appreciate the two-half structure of the song, given the first 3 and a half minutes or so is dedicated to Lava Reef and the other 3 and a half for Hidden Palace, so that was well clever. However, if there's something that I think could do with a look into it would be the transition into the two halves; seemed to feel a bit sudden for me with some of the synths slowing down and some of the instrumentation continuing on at a regular tempo. Even there I felt there could have been a bit more going on during the Hidden Palace segment but it has still coped fine. I know that I have criticized this portion a lot, but even here I still found it funky enough to make sure it stood alone for what it was, as well as offering just as much variety for a Lava Reef arrangement as Malcos's and Rayza's posted adaptations here. Creativity The two-half structure has got a lot of life granted to them both; the Lava Reef area is shown to be very deep and menacing, while the Hidden Palace has carried things over to a more mellow situation. So I can say the structuring of the two different moods and much of the original components have done well to make sure they stood out well enough to make them feel part of the mix instead of being two separate songs in one file. For a groove-based piece there's a fair amount of added components placed within the track to be able to refresh it every now and again, and for that I managed to dig what came through. In terms of repetition I barely sensed much at all given the feel granted to both sides - if anything it may be with some accompaniment riffs early on but other than that I barely sensed anything. In terms of the entertainment factor I found this to be very clever stuff, and I felt this has worked as an affective return to OCR. Even with that in mind I know he can kick ass a lot more than this, but it's still got a lot of charm that has made it stand steady. Production I think for an electronica mix some of the elements have aged/are ageing a bit, especially some of the synth guitars and the drum progressions, but even here I found much of the synth textures to be very unique to be able to call their own and fitting for Jivemaster's style. Even his attention towards EQs and sound processing is well refined enough to add a good amount of life towards the sounds, so that has shown he has been able to add enough polish to make them stand well defined. The voice samples integrated into the track ("now, it is time" being an example of which) have managed to add enough of a flavor towards the atmosphere; even though some of the recording qualities sound a bit lo-fi, much of the processing, especially with the panning techniques at around 2:40, have still worked well to aid towards some added flavor here. The sound levels are also decently done and have added as much energy as expected with Jive's material, so I can say this has done fine to maintain a strong quality of the audience's interest. I found the panning to be well defined and spacious enough to fit in its place; some may find it to run a bit thin at first but I was still able to identify with what came through here. In terms of technical aspects some of the stylistic traits of this user are slightly ageing but even here I still feel that much of the technical aspects still show that he has what it takes to generate some interesting coverage to make it stand onto the site. Very solid stuff to hear even after a 3 year hiatus. --- After looking at the judges' decisions I understand the close vote. I feel that some of the executional aspects have hindered this more so than not, as well as a few light tech concerns. Even though some of his skills are ageing you can't deny that the overall arrangement is very clever and well thought out. There's a good amount of defining between the two sources to make the structure work well enough, and can be seen as pretty much of an epic mix to take in. so yeah, even though I feel this isn't one of Jive's best mixes out there, it's still very good to hear from him again. Well done, and let's see him contribute a bit more to the site. Aw man, I'm priviledged.

Aw man, i know, I still need to comment on peoples' stuff O.o Good news is, I've wrapped up my PRC entry and will now focus on the remaining WIPs that I've yet to comment on, whether it be here, on other projects or otherwise. So yeah. Time to scaddle off...