Rexy Judges ⚖️
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Posts posted by Rexy
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I agree with my fellow Js that the arrangement is fantastic. Yes, it starts with a conservative run on the source proper, but then the sprinkling in of all the Yoshi cameos and the frantic "final lap" part adapted so organically to your overall direction that I can't find a way to improve on that. Major kudos.
The main issue that I have with it, as mentioned earlier, is the drum mixing. Right from the get-go, Kyana's drums - extremely fun and articulate like the rest of the instrumentation - completely overpowered the rest of the soundscape. I wanted to hear everything else alongside it, but I had to focus more than usual. Additionally, I felt barely any EQ cuts - I hear resonance on your snare, the floor on the kick, and the hi-hats imply too much emphasis with sizzling on the overhead mics. I don't know if you got the stems for each drum mic, but if you do, it's worth reviewing their volume / EQ settings to see what you can do to sit them in. If it's just one big master file and you can't break it down, bringing the volume down could still work.
I also wasn't sure what was going on at 1:39-2:01, either - it felt like some audible clipping was going onto the left speaker. I suspect that there's something to do with the "Yoshi Bongoes" that caused it, but it'll be worth going back into your mixdown and figuring out which hard-left-panned instrument is causing it, then tweak its volume / EQ accordingly.
I'm also glad that Larry reached out to you because what you sent over was such a fun live jam. But for me to see it on OCR, your drum mixing needs that pinch more TLC, whatever you decide to do. I'm just shocked that a source this iconic hasn't been repped on OCR yet, so that's another reason why I'd love to see this back here. Keep at it.
NO (resubmit) -
Okay, your choice of sound design is fun! We've got some big-sounding polysynths, emphasized with textural choices and applications of various effects. We've got the big bass and sine wave tonal drops, the occasional rise back up, airy drones, the application of big reverb during the builds, and an extremely aggressive sidechain. I didn't hear any clipping on my setup, which made me think of the sidechain acting the way it is - though, a scan through Audacity did find some non-audible peaks, which is something that Chimpazilla already addressed. Though I would've preferred for the sidechain to get weakened so that I get to hear more of your textures underneath, I can understand the necessity for a track of this sub-genre.
Arrangement-wise, it's structurally conservative as it goes through all the source segments in the same order. Still, there are more than enough alterations in the transitions between parts to prevent it from being a straight cover - and that was something that needed the sound design to shine right through. But Larry and MW pointed out the gratuitous amount of repetition, particularly in the recap. And I believe MW's math was off because that's pushing more to 30% redundant content, which is highly gratuitous for a 2-minute track. Granted, you would've needed that last third to close out the mix properly. I recommend you go back towards that entire 1:32-1:59 stretch and see if you can tweak your writing. It could be a change in pattern for your arpeggio, a change in octave for your leads, a unique set of pads, or unexpected effects from out of nowhere - and that's a handful of examples. Any change can turn things around, no matter how big or small.
As of right now, this track packs a wallop, and I can see the case for it being ready as is. But the repeated recap is way too gratuitous for a theme of its length, and I'm afraid I can't pass it in its current form. If there's a way for you to tweak the textural composition of that last third, I'm all for listening back.
NO (resubmit) -
I love the idea of you bringing such a well-known Mario source into a minor key. It does indeed go through the entire loop - meandering through the A section (0:53-1:26) and ending up being more consistent with its pacing from then on. It's melodically conservative but had done enough with changeups in the melody writing and chord progression to make it feel like its own thing.
Despite this, the soundscape is bare bones - both with the instrumentation *and* the steep 6dB of headroom. You've got the piano facing the same soft dynamics, the synth bass with similar expressions, and a stiff choice of pads and drones. Of course, Kris had already mentioned one idea of opting for thicker pads, and prophetik brought up the idea of adjusting the writing to accommodate drops and builds. Another thing I can bring up, though, is looking into automation with your DAW of choice. It could be with setting envelopes - which would be most effective on your pads - or it could be with working with key switches. It's best not to use it on your piano, though, as you'd want to keep it as natural as possible.
I like the idea, but as of right now, this stagnant execution is holding it back. Whether you decide to break the writing down further or do more tweaks to the background parts of the soundscape, it's all on you. Please, keep at it.
NO (resubmit) -
The arrangement checks out here - a theme, a variation, a change-up with more ominous chords, and a recapitulation. And the best part here is that no individual section sounds the same, thanks to the textural choices throughout. You've got your standard house grooves, your breakbeats, crazy filter sweeps, volume gates - there's a lot in the audio design that grabs the listener's attention. I approve of this.
I ended up going over the audio design critiques - and I agree that the whole thing is a sausage, as prophetik mentioned. An analysis of the track in Audacity gave me an RMS that is way too strong to be YouTube-friendly (average of 9), as well as the same plot spectrum that Jack picked up on. I can't entirely agree with the critique of mud or clashing frequencies, but the squish and boom are way too big to ignore outright.
Other than that glaring elephant in the room, I love this sub. If there's a way for you to bring the bass levels down during another mixing pass, I'm all for looking back at this one.
NO (please resub!) -
For a source that meanders so much, you managed to adapt it well into this alt-rock aesthetic. You opened up with the flute section from the third minute in, adapting it onto the bawu. And then, at 0:39, you went straight into the guitar wall for the rest of the track, going straight through the source while omitting any pauses and changing the chord structure when appropriate - a technique I liked here, considering the BGM relied on a constant drone.
Yet, I noticed a lot of auto-pilot going around your writing. First, I saw the main lick (0:39, 1:42, 2:36) sounding identical in all three instances. And then I also noticed that you'd used the same 4-measure drum loop, with the same articulations, copy-pasted almost entirely through the mix. The only times you allowed yourself to break away was to add an extra crash into the main lick or add a fill at 2:33 as a transition. I understand that you're a bedroom producer, but it helps to think from the perspective of someone who would perform drums in real-time. Rather than let the left hand stick with slightly opened hi-hats, experiment with different open and closed tones in addition to other rhythmic cymbals like rides and splashes. Similarly, the right hand and foot wouldn't stick with the same constant patterns either, so it's worth seeing how you can vary their writing depending on the situation - something that can carry over to your bass rhythms and guitar accents as well.
There is some brilliance with the production side here. I, too, love what you did with the guitar and bawu sequencing. The articulations and overall tone fooled me into thinking they sounded genuine, which shows that you know what you're doing with virtual instruments! The mixdown doesn't feel as dry as Brad is making it out to be, but I agree that it sounds muddy. You've got your snare, choir pads, bawu, and choice of synth at 2:07, all sharing the same frequency - and it becomes more problematic when you hear at least two of them together. I know a few ways to remedy this. One way is by making EQ cuts to prioritize one instrument over another. Another riskier idea is adding an extra unique pad layer and panning both of them wide, letting your leads stay center without losing definition. And there's something just for the bawu and any other higher-pitched instruments, but it can be worth EQ cutting the reverb itself and letting any wet mix occur on the higher frequencies. Take your time and experiment.
It's one track that I enjoyed hearing in the inbox but felt it got its issues regarding autopilot and its muddy presentation. It'll be nice to listen to another version in the future that cuts back on the amount of copy-paste and goes through another mixdown pass. Whatever you decide to do, you've got heaps of potential, and I hope you're able to keep aiming for the front page.
NO (resubmit) -
It's great to hear that you feel inspired by submitting here! Alas, while the outcome is now a foregone conclusion, I hope you don't feel discouraged from a potential resub or sending new music our way - because there is shining motivation from your work method here.
While you do have a lot of the source's writing, there are enough modifications to make it your own. The intro's chord sequence got cut in half and then doubled, rather than going for the full 16-measure stretch. All counter-melodies are gone when bringing in the B section over two different synths. The bass pattern for the C section at 1:09 feels jumpier than the original; the melody personalization at 1:23 is an excellent twist on the familiar piano intro; then you've got 2:19 referencing fragments of the C section with the melody personalization. It's a conservative structure, as you allowed for a run-through of the theme, a return to the C section, and an ease-out ending - but there is enough to make it work on a writing level.
However, I do have more problems with the production side. Credit where credit is due, first - a good number of your synths have some nice built-in effects, like arpeggiators, sustains, and the occasional pitch bend. You've made a start with picking out those timbres, but a lot of them would keep that same texture and momentum for most of the track. Have you thought of adding some modulation or setting parameters from inside FLEX as envelopes to change the synth tones on the fly? Both approaches could get used to significant effect and throw in some more excitement into the mix.
And then we have the layering aspect as well. Wes already touched upon how you've hardly doubled up any of the synths and especially brought up how the chime at 1:14 sounds so devoid of tone on the higher notes - so feel free to experiment with your gear and see how different instances sound together. I'd also suggest doing the same thing with your drums, as they feel flat and exposed during the breakdowns (1:09 being a glaring example). Some more electronic sounding tones or even some claps could add more power on the high end for your snares. You can also achieve a similar idea on the hi-hats - but if you feel it won't quite work, a simple re-EQ can work to make them sound less buried in the mid-range.
Again, hang in there! You've made a good start on your own with the core personalization and sound design. For me, it boils down to me wanting to hear a production/presentation overhaul, particularly with how you shape your synths over time and wanting to see more texture on your percussion. Whatever you decide to do going forward, I hope you've learned some new tricks for that next big step. Keep at it, René.
NO -
First of all, Kris - this is in English.
I can hear some words, but I'll get to that later.
Anyway, this approach is charming! The idea of taking a climactic endgame track and turning it into something more solemn is an excellent twist on such an iconic theme. What's even more surprising is that all you needed arrangement-wise were the main riff and the D section, which works well with how you paced the track. That main riff also has had multiple rhythmic transformations, both on your synths and your vocals - plus the welcome surprise of harmonies at 3:41. I wish I could say I had much to nitpick on the writing at this point, but clearly, I don't - so way to define a direction.
Alas, the production qualities are the main things that are bringing this down at the moment. I'm not as fussed over with the dynamic split as Brad is, as those quiet sections are needed to break away from the energy from the main vocal segments. But the vocals do sound not only louder than the rest of the parts, but they're also really muddy and stuffy - which explains why it's hard to identify consonants and entire words. There's also not much emphasis on the mid-highs in your mixdown, which would be ideal for bringing out your consonants and give the vocals more clarity. The mix itself doesn't sound as dry as Greg pointed out, but I feel some high-passed reverb instances on the voice and e-piano can help them fit more naturally with the other processed parts. The same can't get done to the taiko drums as they're the only source of percussion, but a slight volume boost and close-up on the virtual mic (if there is one) can make it sound not as soft in the mix.
It's a creative idea and one that I loved the concept from the inbox, but what's hindering it at the moment is needing reverb tweaks and another mixdown pass, with the vocals being the primary carrier of both flaws. The pair of you have sent in something very unique, so I hope you've still got the project files to take this the rest of the way. Keep at it.
NO (resubmit) -
When I first heard this in the inbox, I was blown away by your creative writing on display. It's not easy to transfer source material into a different mode or time signature, but to do both simultaneously shows that you clearly understand the transformative part of OCR submissions to a tee. The structure I sensed was essentially one run-through of Haunted Chase, the C section of Creepy Castle, then back into Haunted Chase with a key change - mostly simple to follow. Sacrificing the D sections of Haunted Chase for a more original transition into E (0:31-0:41, 1:46-1:56) did cut recognisability down, but luckily not enough to tamper with source dominance.
Of course, I had been back and forth on this one based on the instrumentation. Yes, the samples aren't brilliant, but you did make great use of articulations, particularly on your brass and strings, so that helps. It's also a clean mix, all things considered - though I noticed in one of my visualizers that there are no EQ cuts in the sub-frequencies. That's a smart move, as I felt you utilized to bring the best out of your kick drum and tuba.
But talking of the drums, if there's anything that needed re-shaping before this mix goes live, it has to be that. Brad already touched upon simplicity being a thing for polka grooves, while Larry also brought up its robotic programming and the volume compared to the other instruments. But I also want to add that the hi-hat is absent for some reason - which is a mistake in writing for an organic setup, as a drum groove groove usually has some kind of pulse on the non-snare hand.
With the core groove being too simplified, it is unfortunately too big a dealbreaker to consider getting it on the site just yet. I hope you've still got your project file, as it'll be fantastic if you're able to home in and articulate/humanize it. It's also essential to add more depth to its writing, whether adding in the missing hi-hat, fills, or anything else in the depths of your imagination. I hope you'll provide us with a newer version - if anyone has the potential to be OCR's version of Weird Al, it is you.
NO (resubmit) -
Submissiongame: Secret of Manasong: The Holy Intrudercomposer: Hiroki Kikutaremix title: National ScarArtist Inforemixer name: Dj Orangeforum userid : 3683real name: Geoff Hardingcomments: :O)
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Artist Information
Artist Name: Jakob Coltmyre
Real Name: Jared Clifton
Email:
Website: https://soundcloud.com/jaycolt
User ID: JColtmyreSong Information
Game: Dr. Mario (NES)
Arrangement: Chill Pill
Original Song Title: Chill
Chill Theme Original:Comments: Coincidentally, I had noticed a surge in various of my family members playing the old NES Dr. Mario game lately. It got me thinking that what I remember most about this game is the music. When I was 13, I recorded the Chill theme onto my old computer directly from an original black and white Gameboy with an aux cable plugged into the headphone port of the gameboy. I still have that recording! I used to love that song, still do! I would listen to it with headphones and loved how all the melodies fit together, each one becoming the center if you focus on it, but blending so smoothly when you view it as a whole.
It was my OC-remix-loving brother who, upon showing a group of us some OC remixes, I asked if anyone had done a remix of the old Chill theme from Dr. Mario. He didn’t recall any, so I accepted responsibility.
On a musical note (no pun intended), if you know what mode mixture means - you might begin to understand something. I thought this would be easy-peasy lemon-vitamin-juicy-squeezy. I played it in C on the piano, playing simple chords, but I was playing it wrong. The original theme had so much mode mixture that it was hard for me, a novice, to find the right chords and counter-melodies when I started in Ableton. That said, I’m proud of what I accomplished; it keeps the spirit alive while making worthy contributions to the original.
Thank you for taking the time to vibe with me!
-JC
Key: C-wtfian
BPM: 120
MASTERED: 03/05/21 -
Original
WebsiteMy remixer name is audiomancer, and the name of this remix is Three is a Crowd. It's a remix of the second walkabout theme from Dragon Warrior 2.I made this on my phone using an app called Caustic 3. I really like how it turned out; it makes me think of Amiga MOD tracker music, so I went with it.Thanks for your consideration.Respectfully,Audiomancer. -
OceansAndrew, Level99, Overclocked University
xenogears - singing of the gentle windnights into dreams - suburban museumtales of innocence - snow outside the windowThis is Stevo and I taking all our favorite songs and putting them together in a single ReMix. Semper Saltare is probably my favorite arrangement we've done together, where it captures so much of both of our outlooks on music, and our personal touches are everywhere. Like the best collaborations, ends up being something more than either of us could do on our own.I've listened to this song hundreds of times myself, and it never fails to make me feel grateful for not only my friendship with Stevo, but also for OCR itself, and how it was able to bring me into a great community of friends.Thanks everyone, here's to 20 more years of music! -
This starts out with the moody intro of castle center and then transitions into the more driving melody of dracula's castle. I tried to make it feel like you were approaching the castle itself, and then entered in all it's evil majesty.Suddenly, monsters surround you from all sides and it's time to DANCE!Is your footwork strong enough to SLAY and take you all the way to the top of the castle to finally face Disco Dracula?Artist is OA
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ReMixer name:bsolmaz13Name of game:Thunder Force VName of arrangement:Enter VambraceName of song arranged:Steel of DestinyComments:Thunder Force V has some incredible music and I thought I'd give it some love by remixing one of my favourite tracks in the game. The original Steel of Destiny has an amazing transcendent feel to it as you're leaving Earth's atmosphere while changing into starfighter 'Vambrace'. I tried to mix it up by giving the remix a driving rhythm and strong beat. It's something short and sweet where it still has the same transcendent feel, only now it's slower, moodier and grittier. Perfect for taking on the entire Sword Fleet.
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Games Arranged: Donkey Kong Country 2, Donkey Kong 64Arrangement Name: Bavarian KackleIndividual Tracks: Haunted Chase (Super Nintendo, David Wise) Creepy Castle (Nintendo 64, Grant Kirkhope)Original Tracks:
Comments: This my first submission to the site so I figure I'd submit my most crazed remix I've ever done. Haunted Chase in the style of a Bavarian polka. Normally these 2 things shouldn't belong together in a sentance...but somehow I made it so.As to WHY? I have no idea. I made it my mission to arrange my remixes in the polar opposite genre they were originally in. The main motif is David Wise's Haunted chase (played as normal in the beginning), warped to a major key (I cannot begin to tell you how difficult that was...) and polkafied into Oktoberfest oblivion. Because let's face it: We need more Polka.I also threw in Grant Kirkhope's Creepy Castle in the same way (and WAY easier to put in a Major Key). To top that off, I made a music video using puppets (That I built)...If you wish to see this lunacy feel free to.(Note the mix in the video is NOT the recent mix in terms of quality. The track attached is the HQ file. I also have it in WAV if desired)The final Mix was mastered by Mix Engineer Luis Vasquez:So credit to him for the mixing/mastering.Arrangement is by me of course. Speaking of, here is my contact info.Remixer Name: General GruntReal Name: Chris AddoloratoEmail:Forum ID: 16156I look forward to the horrified reactions to a truly unnecessary contribution to humanity... -
THIS IS FROM THE ALBUM PROJECT "Golden Sun: A World Reignited" - Figured it was worth noting
- Your ReMixer name: Lucas Guimaraes
- Your real name: Lucas Guimaraes
- Your website: https://twitter.com/Thirdkoopa - knew nothing better to link for this
- Your userid (number, not name) on our forums, found by viewing your forum profile: http://ocremix.org/community/profile/33965-thirdkoopa/
- Name of game(s) arranged: Golden Sun
- Name of arrangement: Isaac's Only Shot
- Name of individual song(s) arranged: Battle! Isaac
Feat: Gamer of the Winds, GuitarSVD, tibone, and StormSkuggan
- I did an explanation for a track that has a similar story, Mercurial Mechanisms. There? I remember collaborating with Eladar pretty clearly. Here? I haven't got a clue. Weirdest part? Of all the songs from Golden Sun: A World Reignited, this is the one that I had the most to do with. I even did the final mix! I can't even remember mixing this. I've switched computers since then, and I've tried opening it, but no luck. I think this shows sometimes that hard work can pay off. Or, that when going through finishing up graduate school while multiple hectic deadlines are coming up, that it's very easy to forget something. I always still love getting to unveil a bit of the 'magic' behind these covers. Even when I was young, I found fascination in it. I picked up this track, and boy am I happy that I did. I listened to the mix and even thought "Wow, this is better than I Remembered it" - I don't know if any other artists feel this, but whenever I feel down, I look at my old work. I'm always reminded of how far I've got, and that my journey is nowhere near over.
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RebeccaETripp
Rebecca Tripp
http://www.crystalechosound.com/
ID: 48262
Game(s): Ocarina of Time
Song Title: Voice of DinSongs Remixed: Chamber of SagesThis is another track that was made for my Legend of Zelda inspired audio drama, "Lamp of Destiny". You can find the drama here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhsnNwoLVWWN0Ietx6W21aE-Jgn81geaY It's also just a remix of the "Chamber of Sages" theme used throughout the series. It also has some references to the Fire Temple from Ocarina of Time. -
Dear Judges at OCRemix,heres is my new submission. Hope you like it!Contact InfoRemixer & real Name: Chris KohlerEmail:Website: chriskohler.netUserid: 34798Submission Info:Name of arrangement: Where It All BeganOriginal Song: The Pokemon LabLink to Original:
Best wishes,Chris -
Contact Information
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- Your Remixer Name: PolygonJohn
- Your real name: John Johnson
- Your email address:
Submission Information
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- Name of game(s) arranged: Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
- Name of arrangement: Chill Times in the Garden
- Name of individual song(s) arranged: Flower Garden Theme
- The main inspiration behind this one is honestly just a drive to work with the Yoshi's Island sound track. It's one of my favorite game OSTs. In addition, I wanted something to challenge myself a little bit in terms of putting live recordings into a project, as I've always relied a lot on samples and MIDI maps.
Thanks for considering me!
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Hello, a new submission for OCR. (less than 10 years between them, this time
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Stuff:Your ReMixer name: tiboneYour real name: Juliano FloresYour email address:Your website: http://www.classicgames.com.brName of game(s) arranged: Pokémon Gold/SilverName of arrangement: Beacon of HopeName of individual song(s) arranged: Olivine LighthouseArtists involved:tiboneAbout the song:I created this arrangement for the Pixel-Mixers Pokémon Gen 2 album "Catch This", i started with the idea of avoiding the obviously eastern/arabic feel of the original track and trying to make it something very different. First part i arranged was actually the classical guitar part that comes later on, I know it kinda feels like a mish-mash of genres at first, but i tried to make it work by spilling a bit of elements from one genre to the next.Hopefully you'll enjoy it too.Cheers!--Juliano "tibonev" F.
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ReMixer Name: Cory Johnson
Real Name: Cory Johnson
Email:
Website: coryvgm.com
Forum UserID: 37245
Name of Game: StarCraft
Name of Arrangement: Creep Colony
Name of individual song arranged: Zerg Theme 2
Game Page: https://ocremix.org/game/220/starcraft-win
I feel like it's usually Terran music that gets most of the attention when people cover this game, but Zerg and Protoss have some of the best, moody, ambient tracks in the series. That also makes it more of a challenge to cover, so I took that challenge. This was originally recorded for Dwelling of Duels's August 2019 "Free Month" and later released on my Dwelling of Duels entry compilation album called "Duels" in 2020. -
Remixer & Real Name: Michael HudakGame Arranged: Tales of SymphoniaName of ReMix: Perfect DaySong Arranged: Dry Trail (wow, what a boring title)Link to Original:
Hello judges, hope you're feelin' fine.I've been obsessed with bass arps for years now, with finding cool sounds and writing parts for them. I have a ton of remixes in the synthwave-ish style of this one, but most I don't do anything with. With this ToS submission, I wrote a busy bass part first, and tried to wrap the rest of the song around it. Maybe a risky move to not have anything panned center for over a minute other than bass and drums, but it allowed me to really dig into the bass with multiband processing; mono subs, very small width lows, distortion on the mids and chorus on the highs. Hopefully it's interesting enough to not have the center sound too empty with everything else panned fairly far apart during the first buildup. Some of the white noise distortion on the snare crackles out now and again, but I feel like it's a nice touch, and not too distracting. As I tend to do, I arranged it like an 80s dance track, but treated it like a rock song in terms of panning and compression, because I think it's fun to replace guitars with plucks, and big airy chord stabs as crash cymbals (the intro has the synth plucking panned right but the reverb panned left, which is something Jimmy Page and Eddie Van Halen did a lot with their guitars). Little bit of real guitar at the end, though. Mid-side processing to *really* open it up, which gives space for all the reverb to move around. Chords and melody are mostly the same as the original."Perfect Day"...you can rarely predict when they happen, and when they do, you don't want to them end. They come and go almost in a flash. Like this song, in my mind. What was a perfect day you had?Thanks, as always.= Michael = -
RebeccaETripp
Rebecca Tripp
http://www.crystalechosound.com/
ID: 48262
Game(s): FF10
Song Title: Sprouting OmensSongs Remixed: Sprouting
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Hello,my brother and I have recently created a new remix based on the main theme of Megalovania from Undertale.
We would love to see our song on your website.
Contact Information- Your ReMixer name: Ziomeker Ziom and Marek K. Drzewiecki
- Your email address:
- Your website: mkdmusic.com
Submission Information
- Name of game(s) arranged: Undertale
- Name of arrangement: You Have chosen
- Name of individual song(s) arranged: Megalovania
Best regards!
Marek Drzewiecki
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mkdmusic.com
OCR04552 - *YES* Sonic the Hedgehog 2 "Sonic the Chemist"
in Judges Decisions
Posted
I don't understand some of those NO votes either. I heard a transformation of the source done with the extended jazz chords as Brad eluded to, careful playing around of the melody, and some neat harmonization throughout. There were also so many minor tweaks that the entire C section (0:48-1:02) wasn't just A-B-A-C like in the original, and there was enough going in the writing to maintain attention. Drum writing feels like a non-issue, as aside from the hi-hats, every individual section has its own unique kick/snare placement.
We can indeed argue that the recap at 1:43 has the same backing at 0:13, but the changed melody line still gave it a reason to exist. Similarly, the return of the C section at 2:18 also was direct copy-pasta before going into closure, but that's still 12 seconds of a 3-minute piece, meaning its placement is still reasonable.
I also heard some great textures going into the sound design - classic NeonX staple synths all over. That lead has some smooth glides that make it work with the overall aesthetic, and I felt that the parts were clear enough for me to hear on their own. But I did sense the master compression popping off, with crucial points where percussion and synths hitting simultaneously start to squish the mix. Either this is something that a slacking of that master compressor could minimize, or as Greg pointed out, could spur an idea to load up some side-chaining to cut all this.
I feel that the pros outweigh the cons. It's a fun arrangement with some mixing flaws, but it felt tastefully twisted within the sub-3-minute running time. I'm all for seeing it on the site in its current form.
YES