The Orichalcon

Over-reliance on reverb to thicken the atmosphere. Production is all right on the rest of the mix. The instruments just aren't interesting. The drums sound basic. It's all right as a cover, but not worthy as an OC ReMix. NO

Reminds me of Croc's music. Even the instrument choices are almost identical. I like the arrangement, it's creative and enjoyable even if not well produced. Problem is the piece is only 2 minutes long and sounds like an hour of work. You need to put in much more effort than this to even be humoured on the subject of being posted to OCR. NO

Basic piano plus delay effect doesn't really impress me as much as it seems to impress Larry and zircon. Percussion is just as bland as the piano. It's ok to use a delay effect on a piano, but if you rely on that effect to make the piano sound more full, it becomes kind of obvious and doesn't sound professional. The marching beat switch up around 1:25 is too subtle, it doesn't really work in the context that you've tried to make it sound like it's built-up from the first section. Generally the arrangement is creative, but it's repetitive and over-reliant on the delay effect on the piano to fill in the gaps. You need to put in a lot more effort on the actual arrangement and not just rely on tacky effects to push your piece through. NO

As a trance piece, the only way to properly judge these is to try and imagine it without the beats. Since the difficulty level of making trance beats sound good is roughly on the same level as putting on your shirt the right way. The instrumentation in this mix isn't impressive. The synth sounds are dry, basic and not very interesting to listen to, not the kind of thing you want people to think when listening to trance. You need more than just good beats to drive a song, and I think you know that since even you lacked the confidence in thinking this would pass. I couldn't tell what the source was, but it doesn't really matter. You need to work on the way you produce your sounds before anything like this will pass. Don't rely on good beats to come to the rescue of hollow sections where you haven't quite managed to fill the soundscape with the right instruments/samples. Also, get a better host. I've downloaded this 5 times now and never quite managed to get to the end of the piece. NO

I'm having trouble getting the site to let me download this ReMix. Could someone grab it and host it somewhere that isn't the FTP for me?

I thought we had a rule against submitting two pieces at once? I guess it'd take that long to judge this that it doesn't really matter. (self-zing) Another great GaMeBoX minimalist style mix. This one seems to have a bit more going on in terms of arrangement than the other two tracks of his I've heard. The beats are less dominant in this one, and just seeming to keep the groove up until 1:40 where that switch-up comes along. The bassline in this mix reminds me of my old Jazz-Jackrabbit days where the composers weren't afraid of just taking a simple grooveline and looping it over some beats while the rest of the instrumentation takes care of the variation. I like this a lot. There's something new around every corner and it's always good. You should've been born 10 years earlier, GaMeBoX. This is the kind of music I would've liked to hear in a game. YES

The piano sample doesn't sound real, but I don't think it's supposed to. It just keeps a sort of jazzy groove to the song until the main section opens up around 1:00. The beautiful thing about this piece is how minimal it is, and yet how cool it sounds. I recognised the style of GaMeBoX before I even looked at his name. This is so similar to the way he remixed his Mega Man 2 mix. Anyway, loving the groove as Malcos pointed out. The beats are loud, but that's just all part of GaMeBoX's style. You eventually don't even really notice the beats as you just chill out on the simplicity of the background instrumentation. This kind of remix ends up sounding like it needs more to it, but if you added any more you'd end up ruining what you have. If that makes any sense. Either way, YES.

Beatdrop's stuff always tends to be a bit louder than the rest. Take a listen to his Dark Side of Phobos track. I'm in the same boat as JJT, I don't think this one really needs picking apart. Beatdrop knows what he's doing. The arrangement is fine, and the production is fine for our standards. I think many people will find this more than enjoyable to listen to. On a separate-from-judging judgement. I feel this piece could be thicker, or have more stuff going on in other words. The styles that I find I like best from Beatdrop tend to be those that have a great deal of electronic sounds complimenting each other to give off the best complex sound. The samples in this one each seem to have their own sport that they're playing, which gives them a thinner sound than I'm used to hearing from Beatdrop. The crunch is still there, but it's not quite as oomphy as I think it could've sounded. Either way, the ears are evil and must be punished. YES

Interesting intro, those sound effects are strange and kind of cool. Atmosphere, digging it so far. Good deep bass string, pads, acoustic string. It's taking a fair time to get to the meat of the mix, and those strange atmospheric effects in the background are starting to become annoying. They finally disappear after 2 minutes, the atmospheric feel of the mix picks up a notch with some fuzzy choir-ahh's taking over. I'm liking the production side of this mix, since its achieved the major goal of being an enjoyable atmospheric mix to listen to. However the arrangement is so simple and drawn out that I'm hesitant to even consider it a remix. When the melody comes in around 4:00, it sounds out of place to be honest. You've set up this background and atmospheric feeling that seems so much slower than the actual melody of the source. But when it comes in it just ends up sounding like it was pasted over the top of your mix. I think this would have worked out better if you'd gone as far as rearranging that melody from the end to be more in-tune with the feel of the mix. Also give your mix a proper ending. You have a good basis here, it just needs more attention to detail. Also, any judges wondering, the second source is "At the bottom of night", rather than "Sad Theme." NO

Not too impressed with the intro. Sounds like experimental MIDI-keyboard work and takes way too long to go anywhere. Strings come in and the percussion goes out, why? The strings aren't solid enough to carry the music by themselves. As the rest of the orchestral elements come in, it just sounds flat and lifeless. Solo and slow piano work comes in around 2 minutes in, followed by some strings and out-of-tune light flutework. I can hear some promising ideas, but this sounds like it's still in an early WIP phase rather than a finished piece. The instruments are all basic. Everything sounds so quite and lifeless, and the arrangement isn't complex enough to be considered anywhere near finished. It's a shame too, since EVE Online has a remarkable atmospheric soundtrack, and Hallur's work will hopefully eventually have a deserving ReMix on this site. NO

Melody from the source comes in straight away. The quality of the instrumentation presents an immediate issue. You have a good choice of instruments, but they sound basic and dry like they're straight off your MIDI keyboard. The percussion is pretty good, keeping a solid groove. The bassline works out all right. But the rest of the mix sticks pretty close to the source, even going as far as being shaped the same, right down to the tempo slowdown around 2:30. I'm going to go as far as saying it's the source with additions. You have some good ideas, and the arrangement choices are solid for where you've done something original. But it needs to be more unique and thoroughly re-arranged to be considered an OC ReMix. NO

Same here. I thought it was going to be in the same place as before. STOP MOVING THE DOWNLOAD Might wanna get a template ready to ctrl+v for the inevitable "WHAR TO DOWNLOAD?" I disabled Rama's black-OCR to check out the main site properly. It all looks great except for the Site Projects being lined up next to the thread highlights and latest remixes, which I think looks a little untidy. Otherwise good. I still prefer black-OCR, which is kinder on my little eye-bowls.

My type of music. I like this a lot. Background atmospheric music for reading articles on the web and just generally chilling out.

I dunno what's acceptable to use and what isn't. Of my flp so far I've used Beepmap, BooBass, 3xOsc, FLKeys, TS404, Simsynth, Drumsynth and the samples provided by Prophecy. Any of those not allowed?

Previous Decision: http://www.ocremix.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=86772 Haven't had a chance to listen to this yet, posting it here now so I don't forget later.

I don't get this kind of music. The other judges are singing praise over it, but it sounds substandard to me. Even as a piece that passes our standards, I wouldn't go as far as calling it "impressive." I'm also not hearing the "fantastic dynamics" as per prior mention. The beeping synth thingo in the background doesn't sound too well produced to me. The delay effect over it sounds more like a fill-effect than an intelligent decision. The percussion is all right to keep the beat, but it's repetative and not particularly interesting. I'm also hearing light clipping at 0:49 which I'm assuming is the result of the seguing between the percussive and non-percussive sections. Overlookable though. On the whole though, the mix just sounds empty and flat to me. All the samples are dull, and with that delayed synth drowning the background, it's hard to appreciate the bassline or any of the other light synthwork going on in the background. The brass samples are flat and dull, even more fakey than other mixes on the panel at the moment that I had issues with. I can't pass this one yet. I can see how the arrangement is creative, but there are so many things that need to be touched up to make this one reach it's potential. NO

Brass samples are fakey. But they fit in with the context of the mix. Some people just throw in brass samples with no regards to how they fit in. These ones sound fake but they do their job. Listening through, I wish that 70's wah guitar was a bit louder, since that's a feature of the mix to me. Your fake brass and string samples are all much louder when they really should be more subdued than the realistic sounding parts of the mix. The bassline and drumwork is great. All arranged very smoothly. The mix feels a little empty with the brass doing the majority of the leadwork, I think this is the kind of mix where a saxophone or trumpet could've taken place as a second lead next to the generic brass hits. Right now, I don't feel that this one is all it could be. It's enjoyable to listen to, but those brass samples are just too fake to play such a major role in the mix. I'd like to pass this one, but I think with a bit more tweaking, and perhaps a second brass lead, it could be more enjoyable to listen to. I'll go with a NO for now.

Just check his profile: http://www.ocremix.org/phpBB2/profile.php?mode=viewprofile&u=2507 I did the very arduous tasking of "search"ing for him for you. Took me about 15 seconds.

You could send Evilhorde a PM or an email to grab his attention. Got this email:

Why are all the damn Zelda mixes orchestral? I can feel the energy behind this one. This sounds more like a powerful cover introduction to a live zelda-orchestration concert than a game remix. Nice and powerful, but needs to be longer, more creative and more reinterprative of the source. Don't be afraid to try some new stuff in between and pad the mix. NO

The source sounds like a mix of Final Fantasy 5's boss theme and Chrono Triggers battle music. That piano sample is so damn thin and bright. I can hear the strength and potential behind this mix, but it's executed really poorly. Everything seems mashed together in an attempt to create a powerful structure. You need to take this one back to the drawing board and work on the percussion. Everything is so treble heavy, the percussion is poor in particular, the kick is tinny and bassless, you need to work on the EQ'ing for the entire mix. Larry and zirc have covered the rest. Main work needs to be done on that production. NO

Loving the groove here as Larry said. It has a beat and you can dance to it. Unfortunately the samples are all so bleh. They're very well utilised, but the beats are repetative, the textures are unchanging and the soundscape is very limited. There isn't enough going on to compliment the style you've chosen. It works well as an almost ambient-groove mix. Sounds like something one would hear in UT99. I'd recommend filling the mix out a bit better. Work on your beats, make them less repetative, build into some better percussion and don't rely so heavily on that crappy clap sample. The actual arrangement, while limited, is put together fluently. After all, the mix is enjoyable to listen to, but it just doesn't quite take those leaps into making it sound better than just "enjoyable." Since my computer is all busted, I'm relying on Larry's judgement for this particular sourcetune. Good for a first video game remix. Just work on those sounds and pad the mix out a bit more. It'd make a very nice mellow-groove mix with some critical attention. NO

Gentle intro, everything seems to fit together all right. There's enough reverb on everything, and doesn't seem to get too overbearing, all though some parts sound a little flooded. Arrangement is creative. I like the stuff around 1:25, nice and dainty, don't think I've heard anyone do that before. I can't see anything majorly wrong with the piece in production or arrangement, I think they both could be a little better, but they're over our bar here. I don't enjoy this type of music personally, but I'm sure there are plenty of people who would enjoy it, and it's over our bar in the critical areas. YES

Activity in this thread is low, that's to be expected, since we can't really discuss anything here. Most people have signed up on Douli's forum by now, so I ask that everyone just frequents there a little more, and checks this thread mostly for updates. The list has been revised. Bart Klepka is the only one to have been removed, everyone else contacted me in time. The title of the album has been decided as "Delta-Q-Delta". discussion for that is on Douli's forum. There are 3 tracks available that I want to fill with new mixers, so I'll see if I can post a new thread for that in the requests forum. Be sure to post your WIP's on douli's forum as you update them to get feedback, and don't be shy to give others on the project some feedback too.

This is ridiculous, Larry. You can't just keep chopping and changing your vote like this whenever someone makes a semi-coherent argument. This was closed and gone, and it should've stay closed. This seriously makes the panel look bad.