Rexy

Short loops are never easy to make much out of, but you still broke the three sections down, developed them individually, and turned the B section into a dynamic mid-song bridge. I don't mind the slow-burn intro, as it relies on the A section's chords to add a cinematic rise, introduces the melody at 0:34, then let the C section take prominence through the beat drop at 1:36. Since then, both segments of the source had separate developments - delaying a phrase by a whole bar (1:47), keeping rhythms while altering pitch (2:09), stopping and starting the melody at the start of each bar (2:46), and several occasions where the A section's theme rode on top of C's chords. These techniques all work with the cinematic/DnB combo writing, allowing for sturdy sequencing (including the guitar VST) to carry the ideas forward. The mixdown is also great - sharp and punchy, with well-balanced instruments, and with enough clarity to let the backing strings step in as well. I could comment about the palette, but it's classic Justin - and he certainly didn't put a foot wrong there. I am, however, with Kris regarding the loud master - maxing out at -8 dB RMS with an average of -11, which is barely more powerful than the recommended value for the Youtube upload. I'm okay with it getting hosted as is, but it's worth taking note for future renders. Minor flubs aside, everything checks out both on an interpretation and production level. It feels so surreal seeing the thread await a revision when I joined the panel, and that revision didn't disappoint. Nice work! YES

Oh, that arrangement is definitely on point! Naturally, its strength is how the sources weave in and out from each other while keeping a singular cohesion. It's so prog it doesn't use the same idea twice - a suitable foundation for all performances and assigned permutations. Energy-wise, it doesn't drop down once, though luckily, there's enough variation in the rhythm section and drum writing to keep the momentum stable. This approach made me love it on the first listen! Like with Wes, I had a close look at the waveform and noticed a loud mix - and by that, I mean -10dB RMS loud! Thankfully, the mixdown sounds precise and balanced, and all guitar recordings are as clean as detergent. As expected from both you and Juan, the performances are tight, with nothing out of place. I'm also used to hearing your vanilla-sounding synths and was hoping for them to be as expressive as your guitars, but at the same time, they also provide sturdy support in the background, so they don't sound like a problem. Everything adds up to a cool mixpost that ties three themes into a cohesive whole, has an energetic presentation, plus some fun performances to secure everything together. Ivan, you and Juan did great - excellent job! YES

Hi, I'm Laurent from the Grospixels team. I'd like to submit the latest song we made : the intro theme from Nicky Boom, composed by Alain Lambin (who also did the game's graphics). Nicky Boom is a 1992 french platform game for the Amiga, published by Microids. Here are the informations :- - ReMixer name : Grospixels - Real name : Laurent Roucairol (along with Jean-Christian Verdez, Max Noël and Olivier Tamagna who are from the team but don't play on this submission) - Email address : - Website : https://www.grospixels.com/site/remixang.php - Userid : 29807 - Name of game(s) arranged : Nicky Boom for the Amiga - Name of arrangement : Intro Theme - Name of individual song(s) arranged : er... it's the song playing during the game's intro, I don't think it has a title. - Composer : Alain Lambin - Link to the original soundtrack : Comments about the mix : The original is, I think, quite a relaxing and moving tune. I did the cover by myself because other Grospixels members are not presently available. I wanted to pay a tribute to this charming game and this very nice music, aiming at simplicity. In 2008 I tried a submission at OCR and was rejected, wich was a shock and refrained me from trying again until today. I think our productions sound better now. The main inspiration behind this arrangement is the slide guitar : I wanted to use my bottleneck and gain some confidence with it (I'm no expert). I also wanted to use vintage analog synth sounds : Moog, Mellotron and Hammond organ, since I'm mainly into seventies music. The arrangement is pretty faithful to the original, wich I hope is a good choice. I think this music is not very well known, so the priority might be to make people discover its original melodies. As for the software, I used FL Studio and mainly freeware plugins (except the drums, programmed with EZDrummer). I programmed the keyboard parts and played bass and electric guitar with an amp simulator. I hope you'll like this recording ! Best regards, Laurent, from Grospixels

Ooh, I also like this genre translation! The framework's very straightforward - a run through the theme, an opportunity for solos over the A section's chord structure, then back to the source to finish with both segments swapped over. A mellow groove like this has an irk with causing autopilot, especially considering reggae rhythm norms - but a dig deeper revealed subtle percussion differences in both source iterations, notably differing tambourine accents and off-beat cross-stick placements. Cap it with how well the melody transformed itself to fit this more laid back groove, and it's got more than enough strength on its writing and interpretation to get over the bar. The presentation is also serviceable, but not without a couple of minor flaws. The best asset is that you kept all the live instruments clean and well-presented throughout the mix, which is essential to carry the arrangement forward. It's got a decent balance, too - no part is clashing with another, though I noticed an emphasis on the sub-bass and low-mids, yet that's common for genre standards. The headroom problem, however, does need addressing before getting posted. I honestly think this is almost golden - just a louder master is all it needs before getting out there. You've got this, Mike. [EDIT 2020/09/28: I received an updated version and not only is the volume up as requested, but the mixing got further cleared up. You know it's a great one when I can now hear a shaker in the mix - so glad to see you went the extra mile. Let's go!] YES

With the staccato notes in the original, I can see why you thought the composition could've been on an early synthesizer x) Nevertheless, with you mentioning Sakamoto as a point of reference, there's no surprise that you went into a writing direction that your Persona 3 mixpost introduced the concept. Everything is in time, and the timbres for your instruments remain as lush as ever for the genre adaptation. The synthetic piano's tone is on the bass-heavy side, but no chopped note or effect sticks out, and it complements the more treble-based presentation of the organic piano later on - so that isn't a big deal. And let's not let the composition get washed out either. The source translated itself surprisingly well for 4/4, so that alone is an excellent start in my book. And for a considerable bulk of the track, the composition bounces back and forth between interpreting the piano arps in the source and moments of intentional glitching while interpreting the staccato left hand. The right-hand use has various note voicings like in the original, plus effective use of double-time starting from 1:04. Meanwhile, the left has more of a focus on thickened harmonies to support it. The slower natural piano at 1:43 is a neat original touch and has a more realistic contrast to the electronic backdrop. I also agree with Kris on the secret jingle easter egg at 1:01 - it took me back on first listen, and it's still charming to hear on repeat. This track sounds like a complete package to me and continues this bizarre goal of seeing how musique concrete can have a home on OCR. Great job, Michael, and never change yourself! YES

Hey there! 2004 is more and more of a hazy time for me, but I suspect Blue Magic tagged the track in advance before sending it into the submissions inbox (as indicated by the instructions back then). And yet, there’s no record of him sending it to OCR, which is odd. The VGMix archive (where Chrono Compendium obtained a fair chunk of coverage back then) has a similarly titled track known as “Tower of Nightmares”, and it’s safe to assume they both are either identical or follow the same principal idea. So I have a feeling you got the track from VGMix when it was active. I hope this answers your query x)

This groove and the level of polish is just what I expect from you, Alexey! It's a clean and engaging soundscape with fun synths and effect placement, and the "heroes in a half-shell" vocal feels so full of cheese but fits so well with the source. I'm not the biggest fan of your saxophone sample, as it feels so fake with its articulations, but luckily it's so wet you've taken some of that edge right off. You have a solid framework as well - it's framed well with a slow burn intro, two uses of the source straight, and that saxophone and mellow break in the middle before going back. I also like how you decided to change up the chord progression entirely for the A section, and yet the simplicity fits so well with the quicker pacing of the source melody. Both theme run-throughs have minor differences in the pads used, but I believe they could benefit from a pinch more variety to distinguish the two. Yet, under normal circumstances, that wouldn't be a dealbreaker. What is a dealbreaker, though, is the alarming lack of source content. Here's my source breakdown: 0:22-0:24 / 0:27-0:29 / 0:33-0:36 / 0:39-0:42 / 0:44-0:47 / 0:50-0:53 / 0:55-0:58 - snippets of melody used during the swelling intro. (19 seconds) 1:01-2:02 - Source melody used straight - A section twice, then one run through B. (61 seconds) 2:25-2:27 / 2:30-2:32 / 2:36-2:38 / 2:41-2:43 - snippets of melody dipping inbetween saxophone and bell licks. (8 seconds) 2:53-2:55 / 2:58-3:00 / 3:04-3:06 / 3:15-3:17 - snippets of melody heard quietly on the SID-sounding synth in the background. (8 seconds) 3:32-4:05 - straight run through the source. (33 seconds) That's 129 seconds of source presence, and with numbers crunched, that placed the quota at 43%. It's a horrible number to fall short on but falling short it did. You can approach this fix in one or two ways - either cut some non-source sections down or go through places with barely any or no source at all (like your ending) and find ways to squeeze it in. On the other hand, the original doesn't have a lot to work with, so you're more than welcome to integrate different sources initially written for the game, or even find ways to put the source's bassline in. Honestly, in a vacuum, I enjoyed every second of it. It's one I'd like to have on the site in some shape or form, provided you find a way to increase that BGM quota. Alexey, I believe in you. NO (resubmit)

Rebecca, you're no stranger in dealing with short sources like this - and similarly, you made sure to not only keep all three variations distinct throughout but also molded a cinematic framework through it. The tempo fluctuations and dynamic bursts are well placed, the minute-long dramatic twist caught attention off the bat while slowly preparing the listener for the slower main body, and the textural switches are all on point. Even the bridge between the second and third runs at 2:25 experimented with several ideas. You kept the chord structure, did brief re-harmonization on the oboe, and let the piano flourish develop the source's last few notes into a satisfying transition. Very smooth stuff throughout - can't argue with this. Now, I was initially unsure about the presentation. On a positive note, there's a broad stereo spread and clean mixing, making the parts easily identifiable and balanced. On the other hand, the articulations have been a mixed bag. Velocity placement on your pitched percussion is well-shaped, and the textures for your strings feel lovely. However, you have some exposed legato phrasings across your strings and woodwinds with little to no release - more so on the woodwinds with the gaps representing the theoretical performers taking in air. I've criticized this aspect before, but luckily there's more right done on the arrangement and other areas of the presentation that I can happily let it slide and appreciate the track for what it is. Do take note of this in the future, though. To sum it up - a vast expansion of a brief source, lovely textural molding, and a sharply produced package. While some of the articulations remain in the uncanny valley, it's nothing more than a minor blemish. I'm all for seeing it on the front page - impressive stuff. YES

I've gotten in touch with Chris and I've received that ending fix. @Liontamer, @Jivemasterand @prophetik music, please check it out and see if it will change your vote x)

Hey The Dwelling of Duels is an anonymous competition, so it's best that you don't mention what you're arranging outright. Just participate through the DoD as normal, and then when the competition is over, you're more than welcome to submit to OCR's inbox.

ReMixer Name: Pavos Name of game arranged: Golden Sun Name of arrangement: Back to the Fields Name of song ReMixed: The Angarian Journey * Part of the Golden Sun Album * Comments: Hi everyone! It's been a while (a year I believe) since I submitted anything, since 2019 has been quite a challenging year for me. It started out pretty good, but since May I've been dealing with serious medical issues (including a high sensitivity to light which prevents me from working on music), health issues of my dad, being unjustly fired from a job which I got back with a lawyer (but that was pretty stressful), medication that was out of stock and quite some more. Let's just say it's been eventful, but somehow it seems that happens to a lot of musicians. It's not all back to normal yet, but at least things are a lot better and I've gotten somewhat of a grip on most of the issues. This track, as part of the Golden Sun album, was made in that... tumultuous time. I'd all but given up on finishing this on time for the album and I want give a huge thanks to the project director TSori for being so understanding. The "don't worry about it, health comes first; if you finish it that's great but if you don't that's understandable"-mentality really helped me in trying to work on it whenever possible, but not feeling guilty when I couldn't. The same goes for my BadAss co-director David L. Puga, but that's a different song and a different album . It kept working on it fun for me. Contrary to TSori's and my own expectations I was able to finish it on time for the album. MindWanderer had some comments about production (a lack of mid-range), but that was something I wasn't able to change during that time (a huge thanks to the mastering engineer for making some final adjustments in the end). That was months ago and I've finally found the time and state of being (after finishing directing and making a track for the new BadAss album) to put in that extra time in the production department and can finally call it done and (in my opinion) up to OCR standards. Sorry for the long intro, but I believe making music always comes from emotion and state of mind, so this will give you an extra background to this piece and why it's extra important to me. As for the track itself, the album notes describe it well: TSori asked me to contribute to the Golden Sun album, and after some thought I was happy to do just that! Golden Sun has always been one of my favorite handheld games and RPG's in general, and that was in no small part due to the amazing soundtrack! I picked the first overworld theme as a source, because to me that's when the adventure truly began. A world of possibilities, wonders and adventure had just opened up to you, as a player. TSori said he liked the atmosphere in my tracks with as an example my Magus ReMix, which was influenced by Dexter's 'Blood Theme'. That made me want to make a ReMix based on something else again, because it's so much fun to do. And I've never had more sense of wonder and adventure than with the Back to the Future theme! With the limitations of OCR concerning non-VGM-influences, I've taken what I think are the four magical notes from BttF and combined those with the first notes from the material from the Golden Sun source. I've changed some chords here and there to mimic the chord progression from the BttF theme throughout the track, and I wanted to keep the feeling magical and playful. I made some use of choirs and bells, but I never wanted this to feel too bombastic. Of course, the entry of the Golden Sun had to pack some punch, so I pumped up the energy in those few seconds. I couldn't resist at around the 2:13 mark and added some direct melody from the BttF theme, since they blended so well that I just had to do it. I hope that 6 seconds of non-VGM source is acceptable The most challenging part was the ending, because BttF has such an amazing ending with their chord progression, but it didn't really fit the source material from 'The Angarian Journey'. So I had to make quite some changes to both sources, but in the end, it really came together very well! After listening to this, I have both the original BttF theme in my head, as well as the original Golden Sun overworld theme, so I feel like I was successful in my goal! Now for the source breakdown: 0:00 - 0:30: I've taken the first 4 notes of the original (one time the first 8 notes) from the original and combined it with a Back to the Future-esque bell pattern 0:30 - 0:37: Sustaining the note, but I guess that doesn't really count as source 0:37 - 0:44: The same as the first part (the bell plays the Golden Sun 8 notes here as well) 0:45 - 1:18: Original writing 1:19 - 2:13: Basically the source material from the start 2:14 - 2:21: Back to the Future 2:21 - 2:29: Mostly silence 2:30 - 2:38: The start of the source material with different chords 2:38 - 2:50: The Back to the Future-esque bells from the start of the mix 2:50 - 3:05: The first part of the source again, only now with some variations in the main melody 3:05 - 3:14: Also altered source, but probably altered beyond recognition (from the 0:06 mark in the YT-link). 3:15 - 3:22: Slightly altered (and slowed down), but it's the part from 0:30 in the YT-link from the source 3:23 - 3:37: A Back to the Future-style ending, using the first 8 notes from the source material (this was a LOT of work to figure out) 3:38 - 3:43: The first 12 notes of the source material 3:44 - 3:47: Back to the Future ending notes Even if you're not counting the 3:23 - 3:37 part as source I get a total of 126 seconds out of 227 (not counting the silence as the end of the track) of source material, which with 55% source usage should be in the clear. Counting the 3:23 - 3:37 part as source gives a 62% source usage. Sorry for the long read, but hopefully you guys can enjoy this Back to the Future-style version of the Overworld theme from Golden Sun! Cheers, Pieter (Pavos)

Hi, Here's my submission of a track from Final Fantasy VII. Submission information: Game: Final Fantasy VII Arrangement Name: When The Planet Fights Back Song arranged: Weapon Raid (Attack of the Weapon) Contact information: ReMixer name: infinitytone Real name: Karol Kosacki Email address: Website: https://www.youtube.com/infinitytone userid: 34463 Hope you have fun listening and have a great week! Best, --- Karol (Charles) Kosacki https://www.youtube.com/c/infinitytone http://infinitytone.com

Hi OCRemix judge team, This is our submission of Into The Cold Light, a Half-Life 2 metal remix. Contact Information: Remixer Name: BKM Real Name: Björn Kirchhoff Mail: Website: https://wrongsideaudio.com UserID: 32752 Remixer Name: TheBitterRoost Mail: Website: https://thebitterroost.bandcamp.com/releases UserID: 32609 Submission Information: Game: Half-Life 2 Remix Name: Into The Cold Light Arranged Song: Triage At Dawn Original Composer: Kelly Bailey Source Link: This is a downtuned seven-string metal remix of the track 'Triage At Dawn' from the Half-Life 2 OST. This tune plays just as Gordon leaves the haunting, dark location of Ravenholm and re-emerges into the cold light of City 17, where the Combine give him a lead-fueled welcome. It always hit me as a very powerful moment - after the constant tension of Ravenholm, the player get this very brief glimmer of hope and calmness accompanied by the source track to this remix, just to be thrown back into the thick of the civil war in the next second. I created a first version of this arrangement in 2015 and uploaded it to Youtube, but never sent it to OCRemix because the production quality was sub par. Last year, I decided to redo it completely and was lucky enough to get TheBitterRoost on board to lay down some drums, allowing me to do away with the sampler that I used in the original version. To finish things off, I included Artur Stawski (https://sonicsciencelab.com) for stem mastering. Cheers, BKM

RebeccaETripp Rebecca Tripp http://www.crystalechosound.com/ ID: 48262 Game(s): Terranigma Song Title: The Dandelion’s Flight Songs Remixed: Revival of Plants

Original Decision Remixer name : jmabate Real name : abate jean marc Email : website : https://www.youtube.com/user/jmabate userid : 35644 Name of game(s) arranged : Mega Man X Name of arrangement : Run for Hope Name of individual song(s) arranged : Sigma Fortress 2 Composer : Setsuo Yamamoto System : Super Nintendo Original : Best regards jmabate

I can confirm the source use right off the bat. It's as described across both submission letters, and it's evident and apparent. I didn't contribute to the previous submission, but I compared this attempt and the last to look at your adjustments. I sensed Security Hall better adapted tonally, less abrasiveness on the saw synths at 1:34, and the new Emerald Hill ending working well with both the Meteor Herd backing and allowing the saw synths to adapt to their chord structures. I just missed the cool pitch-bend down from the initial sub, but the rest of the change-ups work well to secure the tail end nevertheless. The rest of the track is no slouch, either. The sound design is fun, tightly secure, and has various tones throughout to keep us guessing at every step of the way. And the arrangement, even though it's in a medley format, has a significant number of places where parts of other sources (namely Day 3 and Meteor Herd itself) would interact with others - such a creative technique that otherwise gets overlooked. I'm in favor of the track getting posted in this form as well - excellent work! YES

Remixer (and real) name - Michael Hudak Game arranged - TLoZ: Breath of the Wild Song arranged - "Riding (Day)" Arrangement title - "Run" Link to original - The riding music in BotW is genius, I think. It's a perfect musical blend of organic and mechanical elements (which obviously compliments the game's story); you have a very human piano playing a part that sounds like a transcribed version of sample-and-hold retro computer/patch bay music. I wanted to take that idea further and create something that was obviously computer music, but made from scraped together pieces of very organic, earthy sounds. Salvage art, maybe. Field recordings for Hyrule Field? I took the root/5th/octave left hand chords in the original song, played them sustained with Spitfire's Soft Piano with slight reverb, then clipped only the tail ends of the data. I lined them up on the grid (without fading into the envelopes to keep those pleasant little pops) to act as a foundation loop. I took the super fast flutter notes, listened to them 30 times slowed down to make sure they were right, then lined them up in the same way on top of the bass chords. All of those quick runs from the first 35 seconds of the original are used in my track. The original also has a syncopation where most of the time there's only one note played at once, but of course there's a great harmonic richness to everything when there are multiple layers playing at once. That richness was exaggerated even more when I boosted everything by 20-30 db, which pulls up the undertones. This also drags out the white noise of the sampling room of...whoever at Spitfire made these samples. This gives everything a dusty, nostalgic vibe (rather than just use vinyl noise plugins yet again), and I could also use this higher frequency information about halfway through my song to act as a kind of amp distortion, or even have them act almost as cymbals. Actual paino-y piano shows up for a solo, (with a tiny bit of Zelda's theme, taken from the source), then some birds. Hyrule Field recordings? Some reference tracks I used for this were "Take Time" by The Books, and "Siisx" by Ryuichi Sakamoto + Alva Noto. I have to say that this is one of my favorite songs I've ever made. I would've never guessed that it would evolved to what I did from the tiny loop I started with. Mastering it took literal days, though. There's not a lot of stuff over 3k, and so the process of getting this thing somewhat loud without major mixing compromises (in the low mids, especially), was laborious. It's still on the quiet side, but at this point I'm just as proud of how loud I was able to actually get it - while keeping the dynamic qualities - as the arrangement itself. Anyhow, thanks, as always, for the judges for their valuable time.

Contact Information TheBitterRoost Your real name https://www.youtube.com/user/armageddacrab1 userid: 32609 Submission Information Valkyrie Profile Luminescent Sorcery Harpsichords Illuminating Magic Links composer: Motoi Sakuraba, system: PSX Link to the original soundtrack: Mix comments: All live drums and guitars, but letting the non-stop harpsichord and organ keep center stage. I felt like this tune had a power metal feel to it from the get-go, so I leaned into it, saving room for a small dip into some acoustic guitars. From the Pixel Mixers Valkyrie Profile tribute album, “Nibelung Valesti” (disc 1, track 13)

Producer name: SpaceGhost Real name: Deion W. Email: User#: 36070 Website: https://www.youtube.com/user/Knucklez09 Submission info: Game: Undertale Arrangement: The King of All Monsters Song name: Asgore Original composer: Toby Fox Original song link: Comments: I just really feel like this is a great song that everyone who ever played undertale. I wanted to make it into a track you can dance to, while still keeping the original feel. I hope you guys enjoy and add it to your site, I been a long time fan for over 10 years. I been making video game music for just as long and finally decided to submit something. Thanks for you time, Deion

Remixer name : jmabate Real name : abate jean marc Email : website : https://www.youtube.com/user/jmabate userid : 35644 Name of game(s) arranged : Sword of Vermilion Name of arrangement : Fight for Excalabria Name of individual song(s) arranged : Statts ; Last City ; Dungeon ; Title Composer : Hiroshi Kawaguchi System : Sega Megadrive Original : Guest : last guita solo by Capt’n Shred Best regards jmabate

Hello, I'm JulienMulard (waiting to be changed to Julien Mulard on the forum), userid 32622, and I would like to submit my track "Hacking the JANUS System" to be posted on OCRemix. This mix is a rearrangement of the 6th dungeon theme (Face Shrine) from "The Legend of Zelda - Link's Awakening", going through different styles of music along the way, atmospheric, metal and trance. I love hybrid styles of music, and wanted to achieve a good synthwave/electronic music/metal track for a long time now. At first, the track was not even supposed to have guitar sounds, just heavily distorted synths. I finally changed my mind thanks to Timaeus on the WIP forum, and it made the track even better I'm also very proud of the mixing/mastering, as it has always been what I struggled with the most. I was primarly inspired by artists such as The Algorithm, MasterBootRecord, Igorrr, or even Infected Mushroom, but I think I managed to find my own sound. In some more obscure ways, there's also inspirations from Rush and Savant, but those are more Easter Eggs of sorts. Regarding Easter Eggs, I hid 5 in the specter of the track. Now, I know judges are busy people so you'll find attached to this email a document detailling were they are, what they mean, and why there here. You can also look for them yourself, but no pressure at all ^^ You'll just need a adjustable spectrogram analyser, a binary/text converter, a Morse code alphabet, and some good eyes... Link to the Easter Eggs guide Story wise, it's kind of a crossover between the story of the game and The Matrix. Link is a hacker trying to find answers by logging into the highly protected JANUS System (Janus is a two faced god from the Roman pantheon. From Wikipedia, he's " is the god of beginnings, gates, transitions, time, duality, doorways, passages, and endings", which I found higly fitting given the dungeon is the Face Shrine, the boss is a Face, and it's the turning point in the in game story, where you learn about what will really happen if you choose to wake up the Wind Fish). Link managed to enter the system, have to face different type of security, and finally manage to break free from the simulation he was in, but with untold consequences. If it's possible, in case of publication, to have a spectrogram effect on the youtube video so that people can easily see all the stuff I hid, I'd love it. I imagine it's some extra work, so don't worry about it too much. I can always upload it on my own YT channel later (plus I'll be able to select the right setting to have everything clearly visible). Plus I imagine it could create a precedent about custom videos. But hey, it's free to ask ^^ I hope you'll like it as much as I enjoyed creating this track. In case of rejection, you can let all the links in the Judge Decision forum. I wish you well in these troubled times! Sincerly, -- Julien MULARD

Arrangement-wise, it doesn't re-invent the wheel - two run-throughs with modifications when necessary. The first one went through the source straight, and the second one replaced the entire A section with a rad organ solo. And there are textural modifications in the background, too. The first repetition had the A section's melody with harmonies in fifths; the brass and vocals provided more countermelody and padding support beyond the simple strings in the original; and those textures are unique between both B section run-through. It would've been nice to have heard some more extensive treatment to the bass as well since that is one of the driving elements in the source - but with the amount of detail in there, I'll be okay with it taking more of a backseat. It shines more in its presentation - outstanding balance, no instruments sticking out, and the brass has some great humanization going on. I'm not too worried about the organ solo's position, as there's a good handful of times where it'll hit a notation on the 8th triplet note immediately before the next bar and overlap it - a cool syncopation technique. However, I do think the bass echo in the B section could've had a more distinctive EQ rather than just being made quieter and panned hard-right just like in the source - something to prevent any tonal overlap between that and the central bass. I feel the presentation is easily over the bar in the bigger picture, but the arrangement barely made the jump. I can see this track being a considerable debate among the rest of the panel - but whatever happens, Vannick, I see great potential with you. Good luck! YES (borderline)

I wouldn't call the arrangement "straightforward" by a long shot. What you did was adapt the airship theme into a minor scale, then transposed both sources to the same key and worked with them that way. Your way of arranging is clear and distinct - breaking down the sources by sections, restructuring them to fit your vision, and using different performance techniques for further distinction. I consider that to be your trademark approach at this point - an expected one, sure, but not baby steps in the slightest. It's a good presentation, too, with a lush piano tone and render on par with previous works. The performance is as passionate as I expect from you, but the 1:05 transition could've been much smoother going into it, and I'm unsure why you needed five bars to go through it when four would've been more than enough. However, I do concur with pumping feeling tighter than I thought, but I don't feel it's enough to sink the performance underneath. Though, it would be advisable to weaken your compressor's settings for future works. It's still lovely stuff fit for the front page, Guillaume - a vibrant performance that weaves two unalike sources together and presents it in a well-rendered package. Bien joué! YES

It's a simplistic take - two variations with the electric violin solo between them, and going back to the intro and A section for a sudden ending. But there are indeed some subtle variations to keep things refreshing. Firstly, credit to Max for the bass riffs in each intro use (0:00-0:28, 1:13-1:26, 2:23-2:36) being completely different. Secondly, both theme variations had completely separate leads, and the rhythm guitars handled their roles differently - sustained strums in the first, and more concentrated and muted ones in the second. The only elements that kept more of a stagnant role were the bass's use outside the intro and your drum groove outside of all of the different fills, and those are needed to support all the different parts riding on top. It's not a detailed interpretation, but this setup didn't need it. It's a good presentation too. All performers are on point with clean recordings and accurate performances as well. The balance is tight and has very few stick-outs, though I would've preferred a small mid-high cut on your mellow lead (0:59-1:13) not to make it pierce as much. Some further clarity between your brass and rhythm guitars would've also been nice to have, but that's more of a nitpick. Nevertheless, it's a pleasant and coherently produced no-brainer submission with enough textural variations to keep it afloat. And by listening to the track, it's also made me realize how far you've progressed creatively since your first ever Dwelling of Duels submission 16 years ago - very astounding. Aside from other guest appearances, I hope the next track you send won't take another 16! YES

Original decision Name: Michael Hudak ReMix name: SEGA Space Station Big Dome, 2094 Games arranged: The same ones as before, plus Sonic the Hedgehog 2. Sonic Adventure 2 is still the primary game. Michael Hudak here, resubmitting my Sega jam. The original email was loooong, so it might be best to just look at the old forum post for time stamps, for sanity's sake. Judges hated the "I'm a Spy" lick at 0:47 because it was horrendously dissonant (i.e., bad), and I also toned down the synth stacks a bit at 1:34. I think I was mixing this song and also working on another project at the same time that was essentially walls of distorted white noise, and so I thought, somehow, those things sounded good at the time. I also changed the synths at 4:41...in the middle of where I added a new ending! "I'm a Spy" doesn't appear a second time anymore; now the final minute features "Emerald Hill Zone" from Sonic 2 starting at 4:09. It's a long section, but I continued using the "Space Trip Steps" elements throughout - pizzi violins, the the Dr. Dre sine - and so I still consider this to be a SA2 remix. That sine was tough to mix though...it really cuts through on ear buds, but is almost lost with some other listening devices...for once I decided to air on the side of caution with high frequencies and leave it lower in the mix, for the ending at least. Song ends with the "SEGA" signature tune. Overall I'm very pleased with how this turned out. One last thing to mention that I didn't before is that this arrangement was partially inspired by an old OCR jam by Protricity called Savage Seduction, which I listened to who knows how many times throughout high school!