Rexy

If it ends up as an MMO, then I'm afraid this is going to be the first Dragon Quest release I'm most likely going to pass on. I've never been too keen on the MMORPG genre because of all the time it would consume and all the money one would invest in for osmething that you'd ultimately regret in the long run; and thus by aiming on a genre-specific focus that draws it far away from the simplicity that it was known for, it's set to alienate a great chunk of its fanbase this way.

Well I've sketched out 1:50 of barebones material that at least give a good idea of where it's going. But even then, I'm going to suffer this week - who the hell thought it was a good idea to give me a cold?

If I brought in RexAsaurous, that would actually be tricky especially since he doesn't seem to have a specific specialty at this moment in time. But no fear, I do have a good idea on where to go for my track this time. SuperiorX? Hm... looks like someone wants a good taste of humble pie. Talking of food, my GOD - you guys in the Robotnik bracket have really tickled my tastebuds this time! Let's see what I make of your recipes this time around. It's safe to assume that Brandon Strader had his angry moments in the kitchen tonight, and indeed I can see bottles of sleeping pills spilled all over the floor... luckily not on the pancake itself. It's in this set that we DO have some nice spiced pepperoni with a hint of mackerel in it - very experimental, but I'm most assuming it's from his Italian ancestry. You gotta watch out for something though - you forgot to pick out the fishbones, which indeed resulted in a rather rough aftertaste. Luckily I was able to pick them out as I went along, but all in all it was still a good treat. AMT actually served up a different fish this week and went for some refreshing sole wrapped in iceberg lettuce. It's a strange combination coming from someone who's more known to pack more of a stronger taste in his offerings, but what can I say, it feels ridiculously different from what I'm used to and has a very funny aftertaste. Like with Brandon's pancake, you should've been a bit careful with the presentation - some of the lettuce seemed to have been falling apart after a while, which I would've recommended to keep together with any additional salad components (probably celeries). But since this is a new thing for you, I'd let it slide. Wildfire's pancake seemed to be really gentle; lots of syrup around the surface and centred in the middle with some equally sweetening turnip chops. And unlike what happened last time, you've managed to learn some things about blending things together; I sensed a great amount of marshmallows blended in well with the syrup this time, hence we have this greatly improved offering from last time. A little extra seasoning would've been required to give it more polish, as well as watching out any fingerprints in the center, but it's still very delicious. I hope you'd be able to shake things up if you survive this matchup. halc's track started out pretty safely with similar chips to last time, but then he decided to throw in something ridiculously sweeter near the middle by use of gelatin! That was topped up nicely with some Chinese seaweed which similarly gave it a good amount of edge to it. It's a more unusual texture than last time, though the reliance on the gelatin might be a bit empty for some. But what can I say - gelatin tastes great on its own, so it might be a crazy enough idea to work. KingTiger came next, equally bringing in the party food love by throwing in some french fries on his along with a hint of shredded duck and... more gelatin? Seems like he must've peaked into halc's corner of the kitchen for that. Here we have a similarly experimental combination that takes it into an atmospheric level, though I personally think that there's too MUCH gelatin in here. It's a cool texture for it though, but you just need to try and watch for the quantity of it. Additionally, I saw a lot of empty patches on the pancake; could've had potential to beef it up somewhat, but it's still a pretty cool way to serve it... unless you didn't want to cover those spots because they were used to mop the floor up?! And then came Gario. I sensed a lot of cheese and onion flavored potato chips on his, along with a similar stroke of tiger prawn on his, smothered in a rich red wine sauce. Trying to go for a more upperclass party, are we? There's definitely been more attention to detail than his opponent as well as some good improvements from last time - everything feels so beautifully roasted and delicate, just like what Sky Sanctuary should be. All I can really say is that your tiger prawns appear to be a bit overcooked - maybe if you grilled them at a lower heat, they'd bear more of a resemblance to the raw meat they're meant to be and give the pancake a bit more life, but otherwise, this is a great offering tonight! Syllix apparently had been wanting to throw an equal amount of silliness to his pancake by throwing in some smarties onto his this time, with Haribo goldbears making a frequent appearance alongside them. It's a pretty cool way to go, but I didn't seem to sense enough spice in comparison to last time. There's some empty patches there which could've easily benefitted from it, which leaves me feeling a bit of an awkward aftertaste. Otherwise, the presentation appears to be very precise and worthwhile; but it just could've had more if you know what I mean. Last but not least, Chernabogue. I'm liking the use of curry sauce on this one, even though I think you put a bit too much water into the concoction and thus resulted in a slightly soggy pancake. It's also quite difficult to pick up; most of the sogginess is occupied by the blank spots in the serving, which would easily risk trying to pick up and taste it. The garlic mushrooms tried to help drain it off and add some added texture, as does some pieces of sole in golden crumbs (probably borrowed from AMT's corner of the kitchen?), but again it feels rather difficult to take in. Either way, it's a definite improvement of incorporating the opposite element into the serving this week, and I hope you'll be able to refine your methods. Man... now I feel full taking these in. Nice work all!

Wow, those matchups were insane and got really close near the end! Well fought all around, gentlemen. And I'm equally as happy to see that all 8 pancakes are nicely ready - this'll make a great pre-brawl feast tonight

I guess this is where a vast majority of my piano arrangements floating around is going to come in handy. Self-promotion aside, for more relaxing tracks that induce positive thinking, I'll put up some recommendations: http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR02380/ http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR01189/ http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR01025/ http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR01200/ http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR02439/ http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR02384/ A few recent ones and a few classics. I hope these can be a good starting point. And thanks for the positive tales regarding Threshold of a Dream - we that worked on the project feel very glad that it contributed to something like this

Yeah, these votes are looking really close. I wouldn't want to call it myself For the record, Phonetic Hero still needs to vote in the Amphibious/Briggs matchup, while MindWanderer still needs to make a decision on MF/PH. Otherwise, their votes won't be counted. o_O

Well, I should've done reviews on Saturday, But it was Eurovision night - that explains the delay. >_> So with seventeen hours to spare at this time, Here are my reviews - embrace these sweet rhymes. SuperiorX brought in a lovely chippy feel And C7's trumpet solo was ridiculously ideal; You really worked hard on your mix this round, Even when Akumajo's efforts were bleak. TheRexAsaurous, my prehistoric bro, Was never afraid to put up a show. It may take some time to get polished up, But there's potential I see - not necessarily a cockup. I gave it my all and I fought very hard. And the secrets I kept, I maintained my guard. Let me say it now Ethan, that was quite a duel And a great way to go, my fossil fuel. :3 Main Finger's track felt really laid back With a beat that may mistake it for Massive Attack; I like it when he does more melodic stuff Though Hill Top didn't appear to show up enough. Phonetic Hero really brought in the heat, And grabbed my attention with DAT BASS - that's neat! With Xarnax's vocals and clearer source use, You'll know that's a vote that I couldn't refuse. Amphibious went through and brought up the rock And I'm glad he did - the feel, I surely gawked! Even though I wanted stronger textures on the drums, There's still plenty of source weaving where that came from! And finally, Ben Briggs jammin' like a boss; If this was a pancake, there'd be reggae reggae sauce! Needless to say, it didn't stick as much as Amph's mix Whose vote was the one I gave for its tricks. So now, Sonic Round 2's coming to an end. Who'll win? Who'll lose? It's up to you, my friends. If you think you're out of time, then go vote - who knows? It took me much longer to write this bloody prose!

"Work"? "Tomorrow"? halc, what kind of sucky job do YOU have if you work Saturdays? o_O*

Dude, I have more than 5, but why am I not there? >_> Either way, I still have wav forms for a handful of stuff. If you're in the IRC for NGI's 200th episode, I'll bundle everything I have together and send them off then.

Someone should make it anyway even if Brandon, AMT or anyone that competes against Brandon if he wins this matchup don't. In other news, the guys at Radio SEGA are keeping on pimping the competition! Last weekend's Saturday Night SEGA is now available for download, and I tuned in during the second half and saw some promotion for round 2 of the Sonic Bracket. These guys really love what we're doing! The next airing is actually going to happen on Monday night at 4PM EST, so if you got time then, go tune in and even chat with other listeners too! These guys feel so much friendlier than the usual Sonic fans, it's untrue Also... even if I'm still in, my sig got changed because - you know... boss month o_O

To be fair, a lot of my voting preferences went to those that A) captured the feel of the original like Bonkers said, and at the same time do show the artist's creative streak with it. Hence why I felt there was a lot of tough competition particularly amongst the Phantom Train tracks for that reason alone. Sure, #28 had feel and good antonation, but with most of it being a cover I didn't really give it a high vote in the end But each to their own, Bonkers. We'll see how things stack up as the voting draws closer.

I'm done voting too. Definitely some stiff competition all around, but don't let the quantity put you off. Gestahl Empire was by FAR the most popular source tune covered, but if you want my take on it, only one or two entries were even considered good for my tastes (don't take it personally). In regards to stiff competition, I feel one should be looking more into the amount of mixes for Blackjack and Phantom Train; the density packed a wallop for me in both, and some of my highest scorers were among those two songs. Let's see how it goes for the next 2 weeks' voting. Good luck all

I would've tried Locke, but I would've thought Phonetic Hero would've got something done for that at least. And damn, his production skills have been growing a lot over the past year Still, voted on half the tracks and will vote on the others tonight. I'm seeing some good competition

You silly, silly frenchie; I thought that Metallica cover you linked was hilariously awesome. I thought with AMT wanting to outscream Brandon and him mentioning "strange and stupid", something with a capella elements may have been possible. Hey, surely someone can make it happen eventually? xD

Strange? Stupid? And yet you're optimstic? AMT, are you arranging something in the style of Van Canto, in light of Chernabogue's recent link sharing?

And that's another +1 for Chernabogue's awesome Youtube surfing.

Well I do appreciate the feedback, but there's a reasoning for some of the instrument choices. Since we're two arrangers with two similar lizard-sounding names, I thought it would be a wise idea to fit in some instruments that have some kind of ancient relevance to the matchup. Some of the selections were inspired by the Fossils portion of Saint-Seans's Carnival of the Animals (particularly the xylophone countermelody and additional strings and pitched percussion); other elements came from studying music's primitive origins and wanting to look for a good flute timbre to fit the set (and indeed I settled for a lovely one through Zebra); while some of the other musical inspirations happened after studying a lot of the Past themed tracks in Sonic CD (particularly Stardust Speedway, which appears to be the most similar to Casino Night in feel). Getting DusK involved also has a bit of symbolism as well. If anyone played the original Rayman, the first boss he would defeat - Moskito, a giant purple bug-eyed insect - would be openly unhappy with the loss, leaving Rayman to sympathise with him. Indeed, Moskito remained as an ally throughout the series, even going as far as to assist in defeating the final boss in Rayman Origins. This also mirrors my sympathetic nature as a person as well - DusK gave it his best in round 1, and feeling rather impressed I felt keen to see if he could help out in round 2 (which indeed he responded really enthusiastically). And of course, you mentioned sound effects in the thread? Well, not long after you did, I loaded up a sampler and put the pinball bumper SFX in as an instrument - taking a leaf out of GaMeBoX's book. If using the actual FM synth was fun enough last time, what can be done was to take it one step further. So there you go - an explanation for my instrument selection. Like them or not, there is a solid reasoning for my choices this time

I swear I didn't read anything in his statement about "this will be given out to only a few people". All I saw that was private was everbody's votes - more akin to DoD and PRC. There seems to be a misunderstanding

Talking of votes, Brandon and Dj Mokram both need to finish their votes (in Brandon's case all but his own matchup, in Mokram's case it IS his own matchup) for the ones they casted so far to count. Not sure if it would make much different posting here, but still

Track complete. Sent to Matt. And now, time for sleep.

I'm almost done too. Just gotta add a few more extra florishes, mix it all down and we should be good. And yes Ethan, you aren't the only one wanting to (mis)use sound effects this time x)

I'm pretty sure I sent off more than just a collab with Brandon but I assumed from the list prior to then that you received everything I sent. Good luck to all

It's a good thing you're mixing yours with Chemical Plant this week, Pete. We can't get any more appropriate than that.

You have no idea how hard I face-desked here. Sure, we may have lost Robbie. But: A) You're meant to feel sorry for him, not immediately jumping to "what happens next". And That would actually be unfair on SuperiorX, whom probably doesn't want to waste any time changing all Tidal Tempest references with Star Light. But it's all up to the contest's discretion to see what happens. I still feel really sad that I couldn't do a vocal showdown with him

While we all wait for Robbie's response, I can proudly say that arrangement-wise, I'm almost done... plus I (and I bet you're getting bored of hearing this) have a secret weapon Ethan, you need to give up everything to save your son if you need to even consider a happy ending. ... ...wait a minute; he's not Ethan Mars?