Rexy

I remember being kind of torn over this track when it came out. Part of it was namely because it's hard to do anything with the Ocarina of Time title music because of its blandness, and part of it seemed to be down to the basic production behind it; I recall the recording still having that trace of hiss, which seems to bring it down in regards to a clean level, not to mention the awkward dynamic shaping during the buildup and a rather straightforward arrangement outside from the nice solo work past the 1 minute mark. But getting away from the criticisms there, the resemblance to Steve Pordon's work is there, and the soundscape work managed to capture a more ethereal take on the source material. It has that pretty approach, it works, and I appreciate it at face value for what it is. Don't be too discouraged with the feedback; while I do indeed see more that could be done, I really hope that you'd come back for more. From what I'm seeing here, this is still a promising debut

Tongue in cheek or not, I somehow felt unsure about the instruments shirt. As cool an idea as it is, it probably has too much detail going for the front, when I somehow feel any form of detail would most likely cover nearer the center of the shirt or top at best. I do however second the idea of having the instruments on the back of a shirt design, similar to what one might expect from a band's sellout tour shirt

The Overclocked University design looks somewhat more practical. I'll vote for that

Wut, I'm not going to be the only girl there after all Nice going, Blake!

I'm sad that Danny B didn't make it, but it's still good to see Mr. Morse fill his shoes. The track manages to play well to Joshua's strengths in funk-based grooves, with a strong emphasis on the drum parts. I'm not quite so sure, but the first overworld variation here even kinds of bears some similarities to the version in Link's Awakening - not a bad thing at all, might be a hidden reference somehow. The level of interpretation is good; plays fairly safe though during the overworld sections, but the Zelda's Lullaby part really played well with the chord re-shuffling, and that to me is clearly a strong writing highlight there. Overall, strongly-structured and really defines what he's all about. Now, I know for sure that he doesn't like anyone who criticises his work, but I have to say this anyway; the orchestrated parts for me have their stiff moments, which I noted more particularly during the intro and the Zelda's Lullaby part. I admit it's hard enough for anyone to succeed in that field, but if these sounds are to be used more frequently then there has to be more time spent with the samples' filters to get them to sound that pinch more convincing. It's really my only qualm with this outside from a well set overworld interpretation for the new Zelda project; a good showcase from Joshua Morse, and I'm keen to see where his next few releases would take us

I can easily understand djp's sentiment over the 'consumerist' nature of the track, considering that Goldenrod had a department store. So I guess I'm pretty much imagining it all decked up with tinsel and flashing lights. What managed to surprise me is that rhythm-wise, it managed to base itself more on the HeartGold/SoulSilver version, so even with the 8-bit sounds it managed to root into more modern-day relevance and all. The starter sound effects at 1:11 placed in were awesome/appropriate, and the morphing of the theme throughout the short time frame really makes it felt like it went on for longer than merely 2 and a half minutes; very cute and charming arrangement. Also, is it me or is there a distinct amount of reverb placed across the whole mix aside from the ending? Not saying that's a distractant, but it did somehow make me think the extra space might've made the mix feel a bit too empty for something as chirpy as this. Light irk aside, Ben and halc working together is a pleasure to witness, and I'm all up for seeing more clever interpretations from both artists (even individually) in the near future

We can definitely do with more Sixto, especially to cover a track as complex as the Vs Mode theme I'm often used to hearing Sixto take things in a straightforward approach but still put his own spin on things, and yet he seemed to have taken the track apart into subsections and re-ordered them while still maintaining a sense of structure. So basically, he kept true to the source, but the pieces are placed in that much of a different order it can still be considered interpretive Going beyond the source shake-up, the solo work at 2:41 plays well to his improvisation strength, not to mention the ending with the gate work and synth fade out still managed to add so much to the scope, giving more to the illusion that even if the game is over there's still more to do for the most passionate amongst us. So yes, you didn't disappoint, and I'm glad you managed to keep on the project after all!

I stated at the NiGHTS project listening party that this was one of my favorites in the whole thing, if only for the ridiculous way of writing and handling of the source material. And indeed the track didn't disappoint with an intro reminiscent of Muse's "Uprising" with the synth bass and some solid performance work before bringing in the source material melody ay 0:47. The arrangement ended up being modestly straight-forward since, but given the direction and genre changes throughout the whole thing and the general execution behind these transitions - even production-wise - it works well even with the light expansions thrown in along the way, most notably the Satriani-esque piano/guitar solos past the 2:30 mark. I gotta say the change to the downbeat section at 3:00 was the icing on the cake for me, returning to the core element of the melody and showing a clear amount of showmanship with the guitar expression there. I'm definitely keeping a hold on this one for some time - takes guts to handle such a complex track and bring it to that kind of level, so nice going Fishy! (Oh, and see ya on Saturday )

Well, this track took me some time to wrap around my head, especially considering the not-entirely-melodic nature of the track - similarities with the Mother Brain source material? In spite of this, it manages to keep with the source origins really well and goes into some very smooth creative melodic movements past the 1:10 mark. Gotta say that the percussion somehow felt a little minimalist to me for the first half of the song, but by the time it starts thickening up at 1:50 it starts to really dive into Mazedude's potential (which i'm assuming is where you started working on it again) and shows some writing skills kinda reminiscent to what you'd expect from the Earthbound score. It may take a few listens to get used to the whole thing, but once you do the purpose of the track starts to feel more understood. To sum this up, it's quirky, it takes a more ambient track in a fresh direction, and I really dig this, so nice work for the Shinesparkers crew

Chernabogue, did you get in touch with LuketheX? Perhaps he could cook up something in the last minute :\ The last thing we'd want to see though is a team that would retire due to lack of commitment from most of the personnel. Also, surprises me that we don't know who's mixing for the Block Rockman Beats yet. What's up? o_O

Let's see what I can probably throw in as suggestions * I'm a girl so remember that if you're going for anything specific, though I'm not quite as girly as Amy so stuff like cosmetics and perfume are out of the window. I tend to invest my money more on gadgetry more than anything else. * I have a Wii and DS (feeling kind of old now lol). But bear in mind that I DON'T have a freeloader on the Wii, so NTSC-format discs are a no-go. * I'm a big fan of PS1 platformers (they to me were my glory days in regards to gaming); it's become obviously evident that I am a HUGE fan of Crash Bandicoot in particular, though I also have fond memories of Spyro, Klonoa and Ape Escape as well. * I'm similarly open for some more ridiculous gift ideas, like some of the others have been stating. Though, be sure to keep the item clean (i.e. no NSFW stuff). * I also use the USA iTunes store as well as the UK one, so I'm open for gift cards too if you can't think of much else. And there we go, a few ideas from me

A) Yes, I'm pretty much taking a step backwards for the lead because I've figured that it's way too hard to accurately handle synth instrumentation correctly. Being primarily a keyboardist, I've come to understand what I should've done in the first place in regards to layout xP but rest assured, I'm still firm to keep working on it. Assuming you missed them earlier, the lyrics to "Liquid Metal" C) And yes, on an unrelated note, Corran's take on Splash Woman was beautiful; I really hope one day he'd keep refining it and send it to OCR as well

If there was a 'like' option for posts, I would've instantly done so for this one; I love you Justin Yeah, Brandon said that he was finding it hard to find a word that rhymed with 'sushi' so he ended up deforming a similar-ish word to better fit. Though, given the 'not-right-in-the-head' mentality that I wrote in the little back-stories for the BGR team prior to Round 1 I think it somehow fits the mentality hilariously well. On that subject, to further add to the awesomeness/hilarity, . Random fact: I originally was to do the first two lines until it was re-shifted to Brandon's Mega Man role, which would explain it sounding a little weird at the beginning.

Yeah, it's all about the sample now. I'll see if I can figure out to see if it fits okay or not. Though so far, I got one piece of confirmation so far from OA: Either way, he brought up some sour notes and timing changes that needed to be done and I attended to them. I'm too tired to get to the slides right now, but I'm sure that can be much easier to pull off with this patch rather than the awkward sampling for EWQL. That's what we get for Zebra being so lightweight. Updated here for now

Whoa Xarnax, I never knew you were in the air force o_O Hopefully Zach and Mr L will keep things strong while you're gone, so wishing you the best of luck

Yeah, the flute often seems to be the biggest problem, and I want to eradicate this lead problem completely now. Earlier this week I had WillRock offering to provide some filtering work; I gave him the flute parts via midi... and waited. Nothing came back; all I got was 'flute and horn humanisation is the hardest thing to do', and to be fair it just got me more determined to try something completely different. Instead of a natural sounding instrument, for the lead in this version I went completely backwards and looked for synth leads that sound flute-like. The original flute is merely background ambience now, while the Zebra preset HS Bamboozle is now taking the front of the stage. And SuperiorX; to answer your concerns: 1) I got the demo for WIVI but the keyboard restrictions kept on cutting notes off for the flute parts when I assigned them. And after all I spent on gear in the past 2 months I'm definitely NOT in the mood to spend money on other things right now. So for me, I just want something that works without cutting into my wallet any time soon. 2) Yes, that's me increasing the modulation on the synth to try and give it more of a punch leading into the next flute part. I've managed to loosen it a little bit, but I still want that dynamic transition to be there. Either way, I just want these lead issues to finally go away; am I FINALLY in the right direction?

Will, if Larry's mentioned in conversation, that's not how you respond. Partially, we'd be glad that Larry won't be in the panel, otherwise there'd be the scent of pubefro everywhere.

Being more of a pianist, the keyboard comes more natural to me. Though, I'm still more used to writing complex rhythm sequences and drum parts by mouse. So yes, best of both worlds EDIT: And you are welcome Matt

Yes, that was the plan Ben. Go for it! And well done this round too, you made us proud to be bad

Yeah, Brandon brought me in to contribute to the vocals. We TRIED to get Hylian Lemon but between Thanksgiving and his 'shitty mic', he didn't make an appearance. Was fun working with him on it though!

Dude, I feel for you; I was partially deafened by ear congestion over a month ago, and it feels terrible to struggle to hear and criticise music properly I hope you'll get better soon, and make sure any medication you take will heal the process.

I've gone and voted. Will keep badgering my teammates to vote too

You know, I'm greatful that I gave you a hand this week. If it had happened any later than today, you would've had to put up with me fighting a cold; so consider that good timing

Part of it might be the source tune as well. As I stated, my familiarity with MM5 is restricted and I'm pretty sure I may not be the only one. That doesn't mean I won't vote though; once I have my 3 set in stone, I shall get in there and give Ben the free points he wants (Plus I get a bonus by NOT celebrating Thanksgiving, so there... kinda )

While I see your argument, I think I can understand what Brandon was saying. Since FF7 was kept so secretive, when the information was announced there were several other remixers that DIDN'T have involvement prior to the announcement that really, REALLY wanted to be involved in a project as big as this. I think between this and zircon's selective decisions, there have been people that have seen the exact opposite effect as what you're implying. Otherwise, the rest of the guys have it covered. If you want to do something with FF6, then give it a shot, though it all comes down to motives and guts to push it all the way through to a finished release. That's how many of these projects managed to pull through in the end