Rexy

Hello! Thanks for reviewing this track! Contact Information Remixer name: NbZero Real name: Lauri Karvonen Website: https://soundcloud.com/nothingbutzero Userid: 29276 Game: Doom (1993) by id Software Track title: Phobos Anomaly Original composer Robert "Bobby" Prince, Doom is already added on the site with some existing remixes. This track have been arranged and recorded using ProTools, Adobe Audition and Reason software, with guitars and bass recorded through Line6 Pod Hd500x amp modeller. Track is arranged with modern metalcore and djent inspired rhythm section with a more late 80's classic heavy metal lead. Arranged for an 8-string guitar with standard F# tuning. The second half of the track also has a more toned-down, clean mid-way break with added guitar 3rd harmonics. Cheers and thanks, Lauri Karvonen

After getting in touch with Michael, I got a more refined version of the source breakdown. These are my notes based on that PM exchange. My calculations gave me a total of 143 seconds - or 50.7%. It's a bizarre treatment, with several tracks using less than 5 seconds, but there is some creative manipulation with every BGM brought to the table. As far as the source goes, I consider this barely dominant. The arrangement writing is suitable for this mock TV theme idea - good use of fading envelopes, careful attention to drums with some subtleties stopping repetition, a bass with an appropriate focus on 8th note runs, and those intentional "happy accidents" at 1:19 with the delayed chimes. The soundscapes also feel much fuller than what I usually hear from him, with attention to pads, countermelodies, and other effects going through - so with everything taken in, I feel the arrangement side checks out. Addressing MW's concerns about dissonance: I did hear those straight 4ths at 2:23 with that harmony slip at 2:25, but I didn't hear any off-scale notes at 3:45. Nevertheless, the stray tone at 2:25 is a nice-to-have adjustment, just to bring that one C note up to C# to match the key. The production is also okay - no instrument bleeding into another, and no part is out of balance either. The synths and percussion chosen are all appropriate for the genre adaptation and have a wide variety of gates, attacks and releases. The one thing that irks me, though, is the sound levels. Yes, the peaks are close to the top, but the track itself rarely pushes itself beyond -3dB. If he can find some places to apply compression and bring the volume higher - whether that be individual instruments, the master limiter, or both depending on what you feel works - then I'll be more comfortable with seeing it on the front page. Yes, I'm the other way to MindWanderer - the source is more evident with the timestamps, and the writing is a vast improvement for submissions outside of the musique concrete material. If Michael can bring the levels up, I feel this will be good to go. YES (conditional on levels) [EDIT: 2020/08/06 - I have read Emunator and prophetik's votes - and while I feel their sentiment in struggling to hear much of the source, I feel the transformation hasn't gone far off the beaten path to be completely unrecognizable. The hook kept the melody but messed around with the rhythms, and with the fragmented cameos, he kept the melodies verbatim (sans the transformation on Witchyworld). I honestly don't see this aspect as a dealbreaker, which is why I'm adamant with my feelings staying as they are. I am, however, not objecting to the idea of Michael making source use even clearer if he decides to do a resub.]

Remixer life name and real life name - Michael Hudak Game arranged - Ys III: Wanderers from Ys My arrangement name - "Get Your Wings Back, a Song for Perseverance" Original source is the PC-88 version of "The Boy Who Had Wings", by Mieko Ishikawa: After spending several months trying to get most of my electronic music to sound like it was made between 1978 and 1991, I challenged myself to do something straightforward for once and drum up a nice, modern sounding synth-dance jawn. All side-chained up and everything. My buddy Michelle runs the Doors and Dungeons Podcast and introduced me to the bulky, gray, floppy disk- powered PC-88 and PC-98 while I was in Japan. Ys III is a classic from those "consoles" (I mean, they're computers, and they were expensive), and "The Boy Who Had Wings" is a tune with so much drama and melody in it. This ReMix kinda wrote itself! Kinda. I wanted to cram as much energy as possible into it at first, but 4 minutes of relentlessness sucked the air out of the whole thing, so then I made the traditional chorus section much quieter. I also got to reflecting on my last 12 months personally, and the start-stop nature of the song became a bit of an allegorical projection, I think. The working title was "The Boy With Jet Boots", but I changed it (with a wink to Melt Banana) to something a little more serious and uplifting. A positive message from me to me, and to you! Things are often really tough, and people falter, but we can pull through! And music can help!

Contact Information ReMixer name: Reuben Spiers Real Name: Reuben Spiers E-Mail: Submission Information Game: Final Fantasy IX Name of Arrangement: Trick and/or Treat Name of Original Song: Jesters of the Moon

Contact Information PerksJFP James Perkins https://www.youtube.com/user/perksjfpmusic 20899 Submission Information Final Fantasy VII The Angels One Wing Trail Of Blood JENOVA Those Chosen By The Planet JENOVA COMPLETE (A.K.A JENOVA ABSOLUTE) Birth Of A God One Winged Angel Nobuo Uematsu - Playstation 1 https://ocremix.org/game/7/final-fantasy-vii-ps1 I've always loved OCRemix, so when I redid an old cover of mine I thought I'd take it a step further and combine a few to make a mini story. In essence the idea behind the cover is to have a overarching Sephiroth song. Starting with Those Chosen By The Planet, and going through songs that heavily involve Sephiroth or Jenova within the game. There was some lovely grooves that came out of cutting up the Jenova theme, and there was for sure a challenge moving from each theme and finally ending up with One Winged Angel. Many thanks for checking it out, massive fan of the site for a long time!

Contact Information ReMixer name: Reuben Spiers Real Name: Reuben Spiers E-Mail: Submission Information Game: Final Fantasy IX Name of Arrangement: Home is Where You Belong Name of Original Song: A Place to Call Home Featuring Earth Kid on recorder

I appreciate the more folky direction with this one. The initial treatment has some pleasant subtractive arranging with the banjo and acoustic guitar rhythm parts providing that country swagger the original didn't have. I find it interesting that prophetik brought up adding a bridge, as that second variation with all the solos technically counts as one. But even then, it's underdeveloped - the accompaniment does the same thing in all three renditions, and the first and third have the same melodies. The amount of copy-paste and underdevelopment here is excessive, so consider going into your second and third variations to shake up the accompaniment writing more. The mixdown also has room for improvement. On the plus side, the performances are tight and free of artifacts, and I don't mind the guitar tone as it fits with the folky setup. Yet, there's 2dB of headroom here with the peaks hardly going above -3, so you have room to keep pushing more out of your master. I also second prophetik's concern with there being minimal high end; it's for this reason that the cymbals don't have a presence at all, and more importantly, neither does your cowbell. With your kick and snare also getting buried underneath other parts, consider going back into the mixing and see if you can make some EQ cuts to get them to stick out. As of right now, it's not a bad tech demo, and I'm surprised especially by how tight the performances are - but the underdeveloped arrangement and rough mixdown are major roadblocks stopping it from going further. It'll be neat if you're able to revise this track, add more to the writing variations, and give it a firm technical cleanup. NO

Though you wanted your orchestration to sound menacing, I honestly felt a lot of bounce with the rhythms, and you might've unintentionally retained the goofiness behind that source - which is not a bad thing at all! The interpretation's great - melodically straight-forward, but the theme adapted well to the style, and you have some manipulations with the opening on the strings at 0:15 (hard to hear thanks to the flute focus) and at 1:58. I also appreciate the attention change to the male choir at 1:14 as a middle point between similar renditions at 0:29 and 2:13. However, like everyone else, the problematic delayed syllables (1:16, 1:23) stuck out like a sore thumb. That's something a five-minute fix can resolve. The production values got me thinking hard about this one over the past few months since I first heard it in the queue. The balance is on point - all volume levels are appropriate to the instruments' roles, and with how the male choir got presented at 1:14, I appreciate it being a background part for the other two theme run-throughs. Truthfully, I would've preferred it getting cut from them both entirely to save some breathing room, but it's your call. There's also a part at 1:43 where the strings and female choir play, but the similar frequencies caused them to bleed together. It's something that'll be nice to hear get addressed, but no big problem if it gets left alone. I also thought carefully about the articulation throughout. Usage of these is an excellent example to demonstrate realism in an orchestrated backdrop, but the amount of staccato on display is very peculiar. Can a live woodwind or brass player make so many short stabbed notes consecutively? Possibly, provided there is room to breathe. It's a non-issue in the theme variations as there are some half-second gaps for a virtual player to draw air, but the intro at 0:15 feels so constant a live flute player would struggle under those conditions. It's still not a dealbreaker, but more of an observation and something that I hope you can look out for with future orchestrations - which at this point the overall quality has significantly improved over time. Having said all this, I feel it's good to go - but provided the delayed syllables get fixed. Regardless of what happens, I hope you've learned a lot from this experience, Alex - and I'm game to see where your orchestrations go next! [EDIT: 2020/05/06 - I spoke with Alex this morning and learned that he lost the project file in a hard drive crash not long after he released the EP. With there being a year long gap between release and addition to the queue, it feels rough to go through judgment without seeing it coming. These things can't be helped, unfortunately, and as I can't see it on the front page as is, I'm going to have to flip my vote. I still stand by what I said though - these orchestrations have really improved in quality, and I hope I get to hear more examples in the near future.] NO

I like the orchestral metal direction for this source. The core notation got altered to adapt to the sound palette, like with the piano and voice carrying the original guitar and orchestra hit backing in a more subdued kind of way, the expression behind the live guitars and its articulations, and the appropriate variations for the drum patterns. But there is, however, a fair chunk of copy-paste. The second rendition of the A section (0:50) is almost entirely identical to the first, with only the segue to the B section sounding any different. And that same chorus variation got heard again at 1:45, with the only difference being muted drums for the first four bars. Hearing the guitar go through the notation with the same articulations felt tiresome too quickly. This flaw is something I'd like to see get addressed - whether it be original melodies, different harmonies, performance with entirely different rhythms, or any other ideas of yours. The production values feel all over the place, though - I can identify your leads despite all the clutter, but the balance and rest of the mixing have areas of improvement. Larry brought up the snappy snare, which does indeed need to get brought down a touch. To address his concern about muddiness as well, it's notably a thing when the strings and piano are both heard together, so it's difficult to focus on one part without accidentally hearing another. I also feel the orchestral stabs during the B section (1:22) are even overpowering the drums, so I'd also suggest bringing them down too. The vocal timing didn't bother me due to its slow attack, but the transition between section A variations (0:44) did - it was like the fill accidentally got brought forward by a 16th beat. I suggest you take a look at that area and clean it up. It's a concept I'd love to get behind, but there are so many small issues that they all add up to a return to the drawing board, unfortunately. It'll be nice to hear a future revision with less copy-paste, a revised mixdown, and that one transition getting fixed. Keep at it, Ernesto. NO (resubmit)

The virus hadn't done as much damage as I thought, but it's still done some rough rounds. Prior to the outbreak, I had been trying to get a longer-term paid job with a strategy of doing volunteer work in my local area. I was actually due to be an IT technician in my hometown's library on the day the lockdown got in place, and I'm sure the offer will still be there once restrictions get taken down. As of right now, the only volunteer work still running are actually here in the remix community - judging everyone's music submissions to OCR, and the contributions to RadioSEGA as well. As long as it keeps my mind sharp, that's all I can ask for. Outside of here, I'm either hooked on Animal Crossing: New Horizons (or as I'd like to call it, "outdoor play simulator"), and I've also been one of those using Zoom to keep in touch with my family. It's especially good for my father, as because of his suppressed immune system, he is forbidden from leaving the house at all. The only time he'd ever head outside is to use the garage, and that's it. Two of my family members had also contracted the virus, but are both recovering well and I am thankful for that. Anything else I mention here would go into what the UK in general had endured under the outbreak, so that's gonna be worth another thread on its own. In the meantime, I'm doing well, and I aim to keep being proactive for as long as it takes x)

The arrangement is essentially one run-through of the theme with some modifications. The bass line from 0:41 has more prominence with the octave licks, with the changed chord structures adding a subtle variation to the verse. Things got developed further at 1:31 with solos blistering through on top of that same verse-and-chorus accompaniment, culminating in some beefy harmony work at 2:04. I admit the bridge at 2:19 felt funky to me when I first heard it at the DoD duel this was a part of - wasn't too sure if having a bass doing similar riffs to the guitars would work sonically. But both the cameo reference to the intro and the resulting build back to the final chorus more than solidified its placement here. And yes, the all-out war at 3:34 made for some crazy subtractive work for the outro as well. For something that has more of a conservative approach, it did a lot of interpretive work with the source, and I felt that was worth it on its own. The soundscape is also serviceable - I can identify all parts for most of the time, the mixdown is also clean, and the tones for the guitars and synths all co-operate well together. Two things caught my attention, though: first of all, the open hi-hats have this fuzzy, loss-like tone to it and could've benefitted from a sibilance cut to tame it. And secondly, when all the leads do their spontaneous solos at 3:34, the soundscape feels very cluttered. The keyboard part going through the main melody was clear enough to keep the section going forward, though the ability to hear the other leads would've been handy to have. Despite my production crits, I honestly feel the treatment of the source did enough to work with the better parts of the presentation in creating a tight package through and through. I'm all revved up and excited to see it on the front page - excellent work, team! YES

ReMixer name - Mak Eightman real name- Max V. Kravchenko email address- userid: 32137 Submission Information: Title - "Front move" Name of game arranged - TMNT Tournament fighters System: NES Name of individual song arranged - BGM3, Waterfront Link to the original soundtrack - Hello! Second in a row of "different" tracks. If I recall correctly this mix has 32 tracks of instruments(only 3 tarcks for drums and percussion) and lot of effects chains. Actually it's a monster. Made it two years ago. Cool percussion. Gtrs kinda sharp and abrasive. Sometimes cymbals overloaded. Overall sounds messy and annoying. NO. Resub. Thank you! SFME!

Contact Information Your ReMixer name: Crashbomb Your real name: Crashbomb the band Your website: www.crashbomb.bandcamp.com Your userid (number, not name) on our forums, found by viewing your forum profile: ? Submission Information Name of game(s) arranged: Ducktales Name of arrangement: The Moon Name of individual song(s) arranged: DuckTales [The Moon] by Crashbomb Additional information about game including composer, system, etc. (if it has not yet been added to the site): Originally written by Hiroshige Tonomura, (1989) Song from "The Moon" stage from Ducktales (1989) NES game. Developed and published by Capcom. Your own comments about the mix, for example the inspiration behind it, how it was made, etc.: We [Crashbomb] make fun, catchy, and melodic metal-induced punk with bone-crushing guitars and a Nintendo gizmo (named C.A.R.L) that gives our music a video game aesthetic. We recently started an album dedicated to some of our favorite video game covers. Ducktales being one of them!

ReMixer name: Eladar Real name: Darren Malley Email address: Website: https://soundcloud.com/user-275706525 User ID: 33527 Game arranged: Sonic & Knuckles Name of arrangement: Volcanic Glass Individual songs arranged: Lava Reef Zone: Act 1, Lava Reef Zone: Act 2 Links to sources: "Volcanic Glass" is a synth-heavy arrangement of Acts 1 and 2 from Sonic & Knuckles' Lava Reef Zone. I always loved the inherent juxtaposition of Lava Reef, environment-wise: the fiery magma of Act 1 vs. the cool, almost ice-like crystal structures of Act 2. Likewise Act 2's background music is such a great reinvention of Act 1's, and together they fit their respective level designs perfectly. So the goal with this remix was to try and blend the smooth intrigue of Act 2's theme with some of the intensity of Act 1's. Genre-wise it's a mix of things - early on there's some downtempo/chillout vibes, but later it gets more energetic. I suppose there's some synthwave influence too (plenty of analog-style leads and pads). Hope you enjoy!

Arrangement-wise, there are some subtle changes from the source here. The rolling bassline that was part of the A section got omitted entirely in favor of allowing more space for the lead pad and percussion. The B section at 0:55 and C at 1:38 have an emphasis on chords where the original equivalents did not, and in B's case, there's also a minor change in the melody line to accommodate this decision. So that initial treatment from the first couple of minutes is subtle and appropriate for the genre shift. However, the rest of the track doesn't develop any further. There's a brief return to the A section's second half, a repeat of B with the four-on-the-floor drums happening all the way through rather than halfway, and the previous treatment of the C section twice. The whole stretch from 2:00-3:52 is a revisit of prior ideas, and there's a lot of room to play around more with the theme. You've made a good start so far with those brief melody and accompaniment tweaks, so see if you can do something with this section to get it to stand out from the first half. The production also has its rough spots. I like the use of verb and echo to give the soundscape some space, and the choice of instruments work well for the intended "upgrade" direction. However, as Liontamer pointed out, the balance needs work - especially when considering the melody is too far back during busier parts. I also noticed the recording itself is extremely quiet - peaks at -0.4, but the audio hardly ever goes beyond -3dB even at its busiest. See if you can experiment with a master chain or some compression to bring up the sound levels more too. It's a good start, but the balance and underdeveloped second half are the main concerns for why I can't pass it in its current state. It'll be nice to hear a second revision that refines both of those areas of improvement, and I hope you'll be able to keep developing your craft nevertheless. NO

Orchestration is never easy to pull off, but your technique of writing for a piano first and adding other instrumentation over the top has enlightened me. The result is a lush palette with careful attention to space and articulation, particularly with the vocal and wind instrumentation. The mixdown is also clean and well-balanced, with a smidgin too much bass for my liking - but nothing I consider deal-breaking. I do, however, agree with the boys that the track is currently too quiet - though just a volume boost is okay in my book. The arrangement's lovely too. While you presented it in a medley-like format, there's a lot of attention to the choice of accompaniment writing to add more of that cinematic flair that the originals didn't have. I liked the breaks at 0:18 and 2:27, both adding melodic content that sounds at home with the source and breaking any monotony at that point. It's a simple treatment that doesn't outstay its welcome and a sign that shows how far you've grown from submitting to the panel already - good stuff. This arrangement is almost ready for the front page - just bring up the volume levels, and that spot is yours! [EDIT 2020/05/04 - I got an updated WAV with the volume being fixed. It's good to go now - so glad it got fixed!] YES

The arrangement is fun, relentless, and captures the spirit of the source. Though, the track consists of two straight loops, a third with a new melody and SFX over the top, and only at 3:21 does the accompaniment decide to break from its established mold. That change is something that I would've liked to have heard more of earlier in the track, to break that repetition. In fact, for that second loop, it's either worth experimenting and playing around with the source, or just not keeping at all. It's your decision on what to do from here. While the mixdown is clean, the textures (namely your percussion and guitars) have a thin sound to them. Consider either re-looking into the instruments' EQ to add more punch or a safer recommendation of adding more layers to those timbres. I also second MW's concerns about the balance being off and will add two key aspects that caught my attention. Firstly, the hi-hats drowned out the snare, so do take a look into that. And secondly, I also wanted to hear that new melody at 2:44, but the sound effects are completely drowning it. If you do want to do SFX at all, it's better to put them at a place where the melody isn't so much of a focus. You got a good foundation here, and without a doubt, you'll make the passionate Jazz Jackrabbit fan very happy with this interpretation. However, I consider this too rough to see on the front page at this moment in time. It'll be nice to hear a revision with fixes to repetition, source manipulation, balance and sound textures. You do have potential, though, so I hope you'll send stuff over again in the future. NO (resubmit)

Remixer Name: Marc Chemali Real Name: Marc Chemali website: https://marcchemali.bandcamp.com/releases userid: marcchemali Name of game arranged: Deus Ex (2000) Name of arrangement: Reamplified Streets Name of original: NYC Streets Original soundtrack link: Comments on mix: My inspiration for this remix/reboot was to see if I could give it a more modern sound. I wanted to keep the original ambiance and then maybe try add a different perspective on each section like it may be a different area of the level. But overall I still wanted to make it sound like a song the way the original did. Hope you like it.

RebeccaETripp Rebecca Tripp http://www.crystalechosound.com/ ID: 48262 Game(s): Breath of the Wild Song Title: Forest Labyrinth Songs Remixed: Lost Woods

ReMixer name: Michael Hudak Real name: Same! Name of game arranged: Conker's Bad Fur Day Name of song arranged: Rock Solid (mostly the 2nd half of the song), by Robin Beanland Name of my ReMix: Xerrox Salad/Memories of Memories Original source song (I didn't use anything before 2:38): (The source usage in my song starts at 0:56 and goes throughout, minus a few interruptions. Much more than 50% usage, though, I'd say) Hello! It's me again. This is a weird one, and if it gets posted, some people are going to just hate what I did with the source. Ah well. I'm very proud of this, but explanation is needed. I've been obsessed with the work of Alva Noto (Carsten Nicolai) for years now, and this is another piece that was heavily influenced by both his "Transspray" series, such as this, and his piano cut-and-pasting work with Ryuichi Sakamoto, such as this and this. In fact, he has an incredible series of several album called "Xerrox", which has a lot of office machine sounds as part of the pieces, which I obviously drew from heavily, here. I don't want to give you a huge rundown of his discography, but to let you know where I was coming from with my own "Xerrox Salad" (an homage to Noto and a pun on Robin Beanland's "Rock Solid"...hopefully that extra r will keep the hounds at bay), it's a combination of the machine sound stuff, the piano stuff, and the source tune. "Rock Solid" is essentially a 90s club song with a simple repeating chord progression, so I added some heavy sidechained bass...but it's mostly sub, not in the right key, and eventually disappears. It's just as much noise as anything. There are tons of cut-up piano snips here, and much of them have the gain cranked and compressed, which is another EDM trope, but that kind of signal boosting also brings out the strange background noises in some of the sampled piano notes (often it's little noises from the sampling room). Piano is a percussive instrument, and bringing that kind of hidden clamor to the surface and then using snips and stabs of it really creates almost a new kind of instrument that amplifies both the percussive and melodic qualities of it. Not rolling back transients so you get that tasty "pop" when a new clip starts is a big part of that, too. This is also a kind of an "art-damaged" way of composing, but the source is a dance track, so I also tried to keep the pretense down and keep the song interesting and somewhat with a beat. That said, I did add words by Longfellow recited by my great-grandfather in front of his fireplace (from a tape from 1979 - I never met the guy but he has a great voice) taken from the song "The Legend of the Crossbill". The final section has that sprinkling of nostalgic fairy dust, I think. Whew! I think this track is ugly and beautiful at once. I'm sorry for such a long write-up.

Hello, Here is another submission from us once again! Contact Information Your ReMixer name - Elrinth & PsyNES Your real name - Nicklas & Jari Your email address - & Your website - https://soundcloud.com/psynes & https://soundcloud.com/Elrinth Your userid - 20309 Submission Information Name of game(s) arranged - Mega Man 2 NES Name of arrangement - Bubbleologists Name of individual song(s) arranged - Bubble Man Your own comments about the mix, for example the inspiration behind it, how it was made, etc. It's been about 6 years since we made this (with Renoise ofc!), and never tried to submit it in OCReMix, so here we go! I hope you guys enjoy this who hasn't heard it before! (If it gets released I guess :P) This time we have Bubble Man ReMix for you! I think its more trance'ish than the other two tracks we did and more like our Flash Man than the Metal Man ReMix in style. We tried to put some water themed samples to it, like beach sounds, some bubbling and also the drowning for ending. I actually fixed the ending too like Rozovian suggested in WIP Forums a few years ago, hopefully it's better now. Cheers! Enjoy!

Contact Information ReMixer name: Danilo Ciaffi real name: Danilo Ciaffi email address: website: youtube.com/c/DaniloCiaffi userid: 34668 Submission Information Name of game(s) arranged: Pokémon Red/Blue/Yellow Name of arrangement: Farewell Beloved Ones Name of individual song(s) arranged: Lavender Town Comments: I liked the idea of turning this creepy track into a mourning/death-is-part-of-life track, and went for a post-rock vibe

I liked how you transformed the limited content behind the original track. Particularly throughout the first three minutes, I heard a lot of additional notation, harmonies, gated synth work, and sneaky references of that theme in more original writing passages. All this is while changing the time signature to 4/4 from the original's 3/4 - extremely impressive for its 5-minute running time. It took me a while to get used to any funky dissonance that popped up especially when going through the source's A-section, but I can argue here that this is the Black Waltz we're talking about - so it makes sense to add that sense of threat into the writing in the grand scheme of things. Yet, despite all this transformative work, the track bubbled under the 50% source mark by 7 seconds after I made my calculations. A lot of it can be due to considerably less content in the second half. Despite missing the target, the various transformations are significant enough to consider a strong representation of the source, so I feel the arrangement overall is barely over the bar. I agree with the synth palette as well - a captivating variety of textured sounds, all appropriate to the synthwave genre. The mixdown is also very clean, and the parts are well-balanced. Regarding the arpeggio at 3:28, I agree that it can get brought down just a *touch*, but the main melody didn't get drowned out and fought its corner, so it's not a dealbreaker in this case. Nevertheless, I approved of the manipulations and stylistic direction - and along with some polished writing and production work, I can see it on the front page. Fun stuff, Drew! YES

You've shaken up the bass, melody *and* percussion notation like I've asked in the original DR - and that's a huge step up! In comparison to then, the writing has pretty much gone from "proof of concept" to "stable tech demo," so be proud of what you did there. But the "only four instruments" setup is still a problem, and I didn't sense any additional layers/instrumentation other than the new voice clips. Room for pads and other rhythm/hand percussion parts could work, so like I said last time, keep listening to your inspirations and see what kind of additional parts would suit this setup. Production-wise, some things alarmed me. Firstly, the headroom problem is worse than the original DR - when that barely went above -9dB, the resub has hardly gone above -12. If you haven't got a master chain at this point, consider building one - something like this can help with both the volume problem and getting more depth out of your sounds. As it is, though, I've sensed more care into the EQ balance, and it's good to hear the non-bass sounds have some power. The soundscape, however, has ended up with some mud - so by making cuts on whatever instruments you feel, you can let others in the same frequency range stand out more. It's a good improvement from the original submission, and I'm glad you decided to work on it some more. It's still not quite there yet, and it'll be nice to hear another pass with new textures, a cleaner mixdown, and a significant volume boost. Keep going! NO (resubmit)

The arrangement's great for what it set out to do. Not a lot of trance tracks we receive are source dominant, but this one barely hit the 50% quota on melodies alone, so you should be happy you nailed that aspect. Of course, for the style, treatment of the motif is generally straight-forward. Though, I do like the treatment of the 3/4 section at the end and its adaptation to 4/4 from 3:03 onward. The builds are also on point, so consider it a job well done in terms of the writing. However, I'm going to have to agree with MindWanderer regarding the mixdown. I don't mind the side-chaining going on, as it's okay enough for the genre, but the leads don't have the expected power behind them. Consider a re-eq on your mid-range sounds like your arpeggios and pads, and see if that can bring some breathing room for your melodies. A volume boost on said leads would also be good - I'd like to be able to hear those harmonies with much less effort. Honestly, the arrangement checks out, so don't touch it. The production, however, isn't quite there yet, and it will be desirable to hear a version that brings the leads further to the front and addresses the clutter in the mid-range. Please get back to this one! NO (resubmit)