Sir_NutS

Great arrangement. Can't speak for the other judges but I liked this very much!

hmm, very nice textures you have going here. I have a couple issues with this one, first there's just too much reverb, which makes things muddier than they should be. Second I feel the buildups and bridge sections are a bit longer than they should. This works well on this type of house arrangements for club mixes, but some kind of radio edit would've been nicer to diminish repetition and meandering, for a OCR sub. Anyways I'll be siding with Gario on this one, although I will disagree with him on the sidechaining, it's absolutely fine for this genre. I do take issue with the compression creating pumping in places where it shouldn't such as the break around 4:03. I feel the arpeggio is causing this issue around this point, but it's undesirable nevertheless. I agree there's a lot to love here, the main sections are head-bobbing catchy, the ambience is great, and the layering of the different instruments and use of effects on the buildups was well executed. This is borderline for me but I'm leaning towards passing this one. If some Js take issue with the muddiness of the track I would totally understand as it's something that's very noticeable and not ideal. But I think the pros outweight the cons here. YES (Borderline)

Tough one here. I've been switching my vote on this one... but after many listens I will have to go with a rejection, based on the compression issues rather than the (admittedly) fake-sounding envelopes on the strings. It didn't bother me as much when I listened on my crappy setup, but after listening on my good setup... yeah, it's very unbalanced and overcompressed. It's generating pumping everywhere and the whole mix feels very boxy. The guitar performances are pretty solid though, and the arrangement works well, I liked the horror theme you had going on with this one. I just want to hear this on a relaxed, better balanced mix. If you can do something about the strings that'd be great as well. It was really a split decision for me, but I hope the artist reworks this. I'm pretty sure you will get through with a clean mix. Like Clem said, I don't think 100% believable performances are a necessity for an arrangement that utilizes orchestral aspects as support, but it would definitely help your case to have those sorted out. NO (please resubmit)

Holy shit. Well that was intense. First, I was put off by the pairing of the pulse lead and the rest of the instrumentation... it wasn't meshing very well for me, and it seems like this sentiment is shared by the other judges. I think the pairing worked better when it was transformed to work with the arrangement and not when it was playing the source verbatim. Anyways, not something that would hold this one back but something that could've been done much better. No issues with the soloing here, except when it feels like it's falling behind the rest of the song in terms of mixing, but other than that the soloing was solid. Regarding the arrangement: who would've thought this song works as a trash arrangement? I wouldn't. But it does, and it does very well! the source even parallels some of the genre's tropes, which helps diminishing the issue I had with the pulse lead/instrumentation pairing. High energy stuff, excellent performance. YES

I was pretty onboard with this until the brasses and flute lead popped up. You had a real nice bass texture going on and pretty catchy drum sequencing but it seems like the main instruments got no detailing on the performance aspects. I see the other votes mentioned static soundscape... which didn't bother me much, I think you got your structure right, with proper buildups and breakdowns. I do take issue with the ending, which makes this track feel like a WIP rather than a complete song. Making a remix as short as 2:30 is possible... but I would recommend to take it a bit further so it feels more cohesive. Overall I think Gario and Larry pointed out the main issues I have with this so I won't be repeating those again. If you manage to fix these, then you'll have me onboard for the rest of the song and not just for the intro. NO (resubmit)

Captivating intro. The vinyl effect is a bit overdone, though it does add more grittiness to the mix. When the track hits, the mix sounds pretty clear. Interesting choice of distortion tone for the rhythm guitars... feels dry and has sort of a digital quality to it... but it works, it didn't put me off. The lead guitar performance was pretty good and shines in the original sections around 3:20. I really dig the chord and progression change at 3:50, this felt really refreshing and new. Perfect ending. I think this track is solid. I didn't find the mix to be problematic other than the vinyl effect at the start, and the guitar tone was a bit unusual but not an issue. I think this mix does really, really cool stuff with the theme towards the end, which was good because after the intro it was starting to feel pretty vanilla. But overall, solid mix which I'll be happy to pass. YES

I gotta agree with Gario here, production-wise this is not quite there yet, much work is needed on the humanization of pretty much everything but the piano and drums. There's really not much to say on this front as Gario covered everything pretty well, so I will refer to his vote. Arrangement-wise, I think you have really good ideas here. Almost everything done with the piano felt creative and soulful. 1:25 and on brings some interesting sections that handled the source very well. I wasn't sold on the main section of the arrangement, as it felt pretty vanilla and I think you can do more with it. With production up to par, I think this could've been a pass as there are some cool arrangement ideas here, but sadly that's not the case. Work on humanization and making your orchestra feel lively. NO

This is really good! Excellent jazz remix of this song. Production wise, everything sits well here, very clean recording. I don't have any issue with the volume levels here, the dynamic range is very large but that's to be expected from this type of arrangement. Sections without too much going on seem pretty low, but the mix normally hits around -12/-14 db and when it peaks it goes up to -2/-4, which is alright in my book, this doesn't need to be hitting 0 db, actually having this kind of relaxed dynamic range on the mix makes the track sound more natural to me. Arrangement wise this was pretty great, a lot was done with the source, and in some places it feels like it's on the brink of going too far off (like around 2:50) but you guys know when to reel it in back to the source again. The last section at around 3:50 with the double-timing of the source really caught me off-guard, but I felt it works and flowed into it very well. This is an easy pass for me, nice work guys. YES

Hmm... interesting. In the first couple of listens I wasn't very impressed with this, the mix felt a bit dry and unbalanced at places, and I felt like the arrangement was simple and took too long to build up. The song feels like it builds up forever, and when it reaches climax it just drops off to build up again. After a few listens though, I found it was really interesting what was done with the sources here. It's not a straight-up remix, in my ears; it feels like a new song was made from different parts of those songs. I'm still not sure how well this works as a remix, as not only were these different parts brought into this song but they have been heavily transformed for the most part. i.e. the piano is a modified version of the arpeggio in Wesker's theme, or how the RE5 section is barely there. Again I'm not sure how well this will work for most people as a remix, in the Frankenstein-y way this was put together, but I found it to be very clever in its execution of these disparate portions of different songs. I'm willing to give this a pass based on the fact that the piano playing the modified hook from Wesker's theme is heard throughout the song and keeps it from going into unrecognizable territory to me. The other sources are there, not sure how easily recognizable though. Otherwise this is pretty short and the artist deserves some kudos for how he put this together while still having it make sense. YES

I'm very familiar with the Batman NES soundtrack, it's one of my favorites and I listen to it regularly and know it by heart, so I guess I'll tackle this one first. First off, the arrangement is very conservative but it's not an exact cover of the original, there are embellishments and variations here and there, as well as changes in the structure. Around the 2 minute mark a lot of expanding is done in the solo lead and the backing strings and chords, so I'm ok with this one on the arrangement front. I didn't like the ending though, I think a better job could've been done in the lead-in to the outro...as it stands it's not much of an outro as the track just kinda stops. The production though needs some work, the mix is very very muddy, feels like the guitars are hidden behind the drums and the bass. There's a lot of low end and sub content that is muddying everything up, just looking at my analizer I can see a lot of sub frequencies even right at the start when there's just a cymbal hit, this may be recording hum or something else, but nevertheless, the mix could stand some clean up in that area, and some separation in your different elements. I'm not convinced by the quality of the strings and they sometimes disappear behind all the mud as well. The bass seems a bit mechanical and static, not a huge issue but I would try to liven it up from time to time as it seems to be locked on the original groove most of the time. I liked what I heard here, arrangement wise, and I love this theme. But right now the production is not there yet. Clear things up, and this will be good in my eyes. Reworking the ending would be a plus as well. NO (resubmit)

Yikes, screamo. Not my favorite metal genre, though I used to listen to Loma Prieta a bit in what seems like a decade ago. Anyways, this remix is pretty good! I didn't like the synth elements being so exposed, but the performances from the band were great. The screams are on point, although the lower guttural scream felt a bit forced, big kudos to the vocalist. The mixing is the biggest issue here, as I mentioned before the synths seem to take too much precedence over what should be highlighted: the awesome performances from the band. The arrangement is good for the most part, however I didn't like the inclusion of dearly beloved much, i don't think it was needed and felt like it was forced onto the arrangement rather than flowing naturally into it. The synths not having the perfect balance relative to the track didn't help on that front. The other Js seemed to like it though, so I'll mark that as subjective from me. I don't think the track is relentless, as the arrangement is spiced up with interesting breakdowns and pacing changes throughout so you don't really feel overwhelmed by the powerful vocals. I'm borderline on this, not perfect mixing to be found here, but really good performances. I think I'll let this one pass as I think the good things overcome the bad, but just slightly. I would've personally loved to hear a properly balanced mix on this one, but with live performances that's not always a possibility. YES (borderline)

This remix is very simple but also very clever. The sound design won't blow anyone's mind, and the mixing is decent, but the arrangement ideas introduced to such a short source are remarkable. On my subjective take on this, this is super catchy and will brighten anyone's day with its happy, careless nature. On the objective side of things, the only gripes I have are on the production side of things, with some elements popping out more than I would like such as the glissandos, the trumpet and the orch hits. Man are those orch hits CHEESY, but they fit so well, but they could've been mixed just a little lower. But this song is not really mean to shine on production but on arrangement, and that was accomplished here. The original is expanded on and embellished, and the breakdown was just excellent. Overall I'm happy to pass this, great arrangement an clever use of fake/cheesy sounding instruments got you far enough on this one. YES

Listened to this one once again. Since my first listen I agreed on the things my fellow judges are having issues with, but gave it a lukewarm pass. Re-listening again my opinion hasn't changed much, but I do think the track would be much stronger if some of the staleness of the arrangement was replaced with fresh ideas. I think 2:52 is primed for an excellent climax with perhaps some soloing instead of the same motif repeated again. I think this section is set up to hit me really hard but rather arrives with a whimper, I think that's a great place to start if you want to rework this one a bit. This song is pretty borderline, but on a second listen I will submit to the wisdom of my fellow judges and ask for a Resub. This is definitely close, but I agree things could be much stronger on the arrangement side of things. NO (Resubmit)

I'm fine with the long intro, sticking to tropes is not a requirement around here. I think your production is clear enough, though I would tone down the reverb just a tad. The percussive lead and the full section at around 1:30 seem a bit too busy and in need of balancing as I can hear the elements trying to fight for space and stepping in each other's toes. I also agree with Jorito about having more elements from the original represented would be nice, though it this is your artistic vision, it's not really necessary. I do think the track ends abruptly and could use some development towards the end. Overall this sounds like a very good start to me, really nice soundscape though in need of further polishing and developing if you're planning for an OCR sub. Another 30 seconds of development of the source wouldn't hurt as this track is only 3 mins long. Good luck!

I think the performances could be tightened up, they seem too loose at times. Right now the soundscape also seems pretty empty with just the guitar lead and bass+drums, it would have more personality and it would be much more interesting with more elements going on, harmonies, change-ups, anything. Not sure if you're planning on submitting to OCR, but right now it's too close to the original for that. Even if you're not planning to submit to ocr, there must be a million wily castle guitar covers out there, why not add more to it in order to distinguish yourself from the pack?

Good stuff from Dusk. I really can't find anything that would hold back this mix from posting, though I do have some things to point out, first I think the production is pretty good and clear, elements seem separated but the mix feels slightly empty at times, which leads to my second point which is that, IMO, this would've benefited from extra layering of more instruments other than guitars. Given the progressive nature of the arrangement this wouldn't have felt out of place, and it would've made the mix fuller without overloading it too much. Strings, choirs, or pads would've contributed a lot for a better listen. But what we have here is alright, maybe even less trope-y than it would've been with the added elements. This is not a dealbreaker at all and maybe a bit too subjective, but I felt I had to give the suggestion, specially since the empty soundspace does get a bit distracting at times. Reading through Gario's vote, he's referencing the background elements needing some boost to bring them a bit forwards, and I think this could be the cause of the empty feeling, and also a possible solution rather than adding more elements. Either way, not really deal-breaking. A bit of dissonance pops up between 2:30 and the 3 minute mark but I found it flavorful rather than off-putting. Great work here, and I think I congratulated you on winning the ArenaNet contest back then, but congrats again, I bet it was a huge honor. Oh and: YES

Agree with my fellow judges above. Great ideas here, but the production needs polishing. Specially agree with Joel's comments here, some elements seem to be fighting for space here in the mids/low mids that could be eq'd better to get more clarity and a less muddy mix. I'm a sucker for guitar + synth arrangements and I definitely dig the way you're using them here, but some of them feel pretty basic and barebones. Not asking for overly complex sound design here, but something to bump it out of the basic/vanilla feel. As Gario pointed out they have a somewhat cheesy quality that, in the context of the mix doesn't seem too bad but could definitely be improved for the betterment of the whole song. Live performances were great, no issue with those at all. I liked that guitar lead, great tone and execution. Work on separating the different elements of your mix to achieve clarity and we may have a winner here, it's really not that far, but not quite there yet. Extra work making your synths less vanilla would also be a great addition to the track. For some reason this seems like a step back from your great Wild Guns remix on Badass 2, but because of that I know you can make this much better. I hope you give this the bump it needs. NO (resubmit)

Awesome stuff here. I think this is actually a pretty good recording of the live performances. The recording of the audience doesn't bother me, but the inclusion of the original midway through the track does. It really breaks the immersion for me. Another minor grudge is the drumming which seems slightly off in timing in the first part. Also don't worry about people not applauding the solo sax performance, I thought it was absolutely great. Also compliments on exploring the track much further than a lot of live performances of video game music do. Overall, I think that without the break in the middle with the source this would've been completely fantastic, as it stands I will definitely pass it but with that feeling of that small, but annoying grudge nagging me. This was top notch though... I really wish we could get more arrangements like these, and I encourage you to give us more. YES

As expected from Mazedude this is a very complex arrangement that explores the original in ways that completely transform the source. I'm always impressed by this man's arrangement abilities. I have to quote Gario on the following: I agree on the soundscape comment, it feels rather static. The arrangement never stops evolving but for some reason this seems a bit less dynamic than other stuff by him. Perhaps this is due to most of the exploration of the motifs is done in the leads while the groove tries to glue things together by not moving too much. I will agree on the compliments for the detailing, which is again another perk we expect. Overall, not perfect, but enjoyable as both a casual and trained listener. YES

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Ah yeah I remember this one, it was one of the best tracks from that round, I still remember the lyrics, even. Anyways the boys did a pretty good job here, the sources are blended seamlessly, and the additions and modifications that complement the source re-arrangement are on point. The mix does feels busy at times, and the lead at 2:12 feels like it could've been mixed in better. I would've just removed the line the guitar is doing in the back because it's fighting for space so hard. Loved the use of the organ in this track. I also think the gating effect on the vocals is overused. Sometimes it feels like it's there just because it can, and not to add any rhythmic variation, which is what it probably should be doing. It helps making the repeated lyrics feel different but I would remove the majority of it and just leave it where it makes sense for spicing up the track. It's honestly something that almost makes me ask for a resub (though the other issues I've mentioned do weight in on that) because it's easily fixable and it does take a lot out of my enjoyment of the track, as it pulls too much attention to it, but I think the rest of the track is just strong enough to overshadow this, plus it may not bother others as much. YES (Borderline)

Well first thing that I noticed about this track is that it's really quiet, it made me check my volume levels to see if I had changed them but nope, it's just mixed very low. Since this isn't a bombastic, epic arrangement and it's more on the subtle, dreamlike side, it doesn't affect the track much. This style is something we've come to expect from miss Tripp, and her mastery of this type of arrangements is only getting better with each song. One thing that I've come to expect as well is her arrangements to be a little on the conservative side. This one starts as such, but evolves pretty well over time and when we reach the second section there's plenty of interpretation going on and it all transitions very well into a cohesive arrangement. The flow feels a little static at times, and I think more work could've been done with the dynamics of the whole arrangement to give it more up and downs but this works well as it is. Regarding the production I don't have much to say, instrument quality could always be better but you do a great job with what you have and there's quite a bit of detailing work done with the humanization of your performances. Overall solid track that has a very graceful and sometimes ethereal sound. YES

Wow... I LOVE THIS! Unique, well crafted, your idea was delivered perfectly. The instrumentation is fantastic, everything is well performed and nothing I hear sounds overly sequenced. I found some of the voices to be less on the ambient side and probably more fitting to something more on the ethnic music side, but this is just a minor nitpick. Production is very clean, and the source, albeit heavily modified, it's there. TBH I'm a big fan of DJP's remix of this same song, but you've also done an excellent job while also going in a completely different direction. Pretty amazing. This will be a great addition to OCR's library as well as our own Relaxing ReMixes Youtube Playlist. Nice Work. YES

It's an ok adaptation, but sadly the sequencing needs a lot of work, you need to make your performances sound more human, as they're very robotic in nature in this remix. Some of the samples you could do without, such as the choir one. I feel like Gario and Jivemaster already addressed the issues very well so I won't make this longer just to repeat those again. I will add some positives: you did a nice job adapting it to a different genre, and you have a good sense of structure, also your mixdown was fairly balanced and clear, imo. Work on the issues mentioned above to get your orchestral arrangements to the next level and you'll be closer to the bar. (I had no issues with the yoshi samples, btw. They were kinda cute) NO

What a great adaptation, this works incredibly well when brought to the context of surf rock. The arrangement is very very good, with the new original sections fitting the progression very well. I would've liked a return, or a nod to the original motifs towards the end, as the track seems to shift from the original sources to only new material towards the end, but that's a nitpick. I think the only real issues with this track lie in the production. The drum sequencing is great, varied, and fitting, but I think the balance is not where it should be, hats and cymbals are at a good level but kicks and snares seem just a tiny bit low, also the track overall could be a couple dbs louder. The mixdown is not perfect either BUT I think this works in favor of the authenticity of the adaptation. A completely clean mix could ruin some of the illusion this is trying to create. IMO, the track could be posted as is, however I'm borderline because the balance and loudness levels could be brought up for the betterment of the song. I feel this one is tilting over to a borderline YES but, if we could get the artist to improve production slightly, that'd be great too. YES (Borderline)