The Orichalcon

I don't think I received anything, Joker. Can you resend to be sure?

Just turn the volume up if it's too quiet. I'd say this is more working on dynamics, since he's limited the mix to have the peak around 4:40 in to built up to the loudest part without risk of distortion or clipping. As for the mix itself, conceptually it's brilliant. Great sound right the way through, great production on everything. It sounds close to being realistic, if maybe just a tad too dry for that. It is quiet, but that demon is easily slayed by turning up the volume! Take that, foul beast! Enjoyable to listen to. A pox on the judges who said NO, this is getting a YES

This is far from spectacular. However, it's very well produced for a Sadorf mix, or for any mix in this genre. Despite using the very basic patterns right the way through for most of the rhythm synths, they meld together very nicely to create an enjoyable sound. The beat is deliberate and pacing, there's nothing shocking there, but that's to be expected. I'd like to see it break free of the basic patterns with maybe an interesting breakbeat or breakdown in sections, but it's all right as long as it keeps the beat. I hate the fakey piano, that's a pet peeve of mine. The arrangement is pretty good, a nice shift of the melody to a proper dance beat from the groovy beat of the source. This is over the line, if not by far. YES

I'd need to hear a sample WIP before I added you. PM or email me when you have something.

So you're saying that in it's current form, it's unacceptable for OCR under the guidelines? Not based on your personal opinion. I've no doubt it would sound better if it was a little softer. But rejecting it over such a small thing seems a little unfair.

Loudness isn't necessarily a bad thing. Roe's naturally leaning towards a louder sound. He's done this mix in a way that it's loud, while still being technically efficient. As long as it doesn't clip and fits the genre, I don't see how you can reject it based on that.

Source: http://www.doulifee.com/prc/TheOrichalcon/UNATCO_Music.umx I know this soundtrack very well, despite never playing the game. This mix is pretty much a slowed down version of the original. The hats playing over the beats sound too sharp for the very flat soundscape you have going with the rest of the sounds, it eases up when you bring in that beepy-accompaniment, but that actually sounds worse. I don't really see the point in that. Anyway, there's no real "rearrangement" of the theme going on here. It's just the source slowed down, with beats over it and additive stuff all around it. NO

Whoa, that bell thing sounds like it's straight from the Tears For Fears song "Shout". Very cool homage! The beat sets a nice pace for the mix, if not being a little too loud for the overall soundscape. Not sure where that little vocal sample is from, but it becomes apparent that it's just tacked on there to try to improve the soundscape. It'd be cool if you had someone actually providing alternating vocals for the piece like that, eventually leading to a singing section or something. Abrupt change around 1:46 in the flow of the mix, choir chants come in, then we're back to the RMX beats at 2:15. Ending was a bit of a cop-out, it just.. stopped! Overall, nice sound with an all right flow, despite that abrupt shift in the middle. But you need more work on the arrangement. This mix pretty much reuses the same ideas for most of the mix. NO

Straight away we're hit with a pretty fast-paced fake guitar. Beats are pretty good, but so far things sound pretty flat and poor-quality. The synth lead is dull and buried behind the compression of the mix as far as I can tell. This piece is really lacking in the higher frequencies unfortunately. If it was a really grunge piece, that wouldn't be too bad, but it just seems to be beats + tacky synth lead and bass. You need to be a lot more creative with the way you arrange the lead and in your choices for the sounds/instrumentation in the mix. This unfortunately flies well below the line for both those areas. Loopy beats aren't enough to save this one. NO

Very pretty little tune you've created here. It seems to be more of a loop over and over though rather than a full proper song. As a result, the piece lacks any real direction. The EP which drives the arpeggios in the background is pretty, the beat is a nice concrete foundation for the mix, not really doing anything to stand out, just keeping the pace. The piano is a basic sound, but it fits in well. The backing synth sounds like it has a really slow attack, so it's getting a little muddled up when trying to play so many notes close together around 1:15-1:30 for example. The arrangement is actually pretty solid, despite the looping. It's a good remix of the source. I'd think it's fair to say that this stands as a good remix on it's own. Unfortunately it's not quite up to the level that we would accept to OCR. But it's still enjoyable to listen to, should be proud with what you have here. Keep up the work. Edit: Apparently I had the wrong source, so forget what I said about the arrangement. NO

Whoa, that intro guitar is awfully loud and abrasive. It builds into a generally very loud soundscape pretty quickly, so it seems less out of place in context. I think this could've been a bit clearer if it wasn't quite as loud as it is now. Checking the file in Cool Edit shows that everything was mastered properly. Gray or Larry can give the final word on that, since they both seem to have bat ears when it comes to noticing small sound discrepencies Bassline from 2:00 = hotness. Very cool with the drums. You win the prize. Overall it's a cool soundscape. This is the type of genre where your natural loud-mixing style actually folds in fluently with the mix. Well done, and make more of these. YES

I disagree with Larry on the drums in this. The artist has created some pretty crisp and clear electro drums. I think they could've been a bit better if they'd been accompanied by some toms or other percussion, opening the path for some more creative breakdowns in the flow of the beat. Either way, I think the drums are the best part of the mix. The strings you're using, as said sound "ultra-fake." They sound almost fanfare-ish in their current form, which is ok, but the attack is so short on them, that they're out of place. Everything came together pretty well, the soundscape was fluent, but it just seemed like it was a few notches below where it could've been. Loop + fadeout at the end is a really lazy way to go about finishing off the mix. Give that thing a proper ending. NO

Once again, by doing a purely NES-chiptune, you're limiting your creativity. I thought we covered with Figaro that OCR isn't going to lower it's standards to pander to the limitations of a genre. It's fine to make a chiptune arrangement, but if you're going to put the limitations of the style to use as an experiment, there's little chance of it getting on OCR. The arrangement here is, as always, astounding. Shna would've had a lot of fans if he was born 10 years earlier and pioneered the whole NES-composition thing. The arrangement is almost enough to override the terrible sound quality. However I feel that there's too much of a limitation here that it's killing the potential of the piece. By breaking free of that boundary, this piece could really shine by modernising these chiptune sounds. With that said, I'm going to reject this, and request a resubmut with some better mastering on the sounds. NO

Very very cool. Reminds me of Descent. with the chord choices around 0:30-1:00. The intro is cool, so it can be as long as it wants. Beats are awesome as always. Good to see you built in the Anti-Moshing defence mechanism as Darke pointed out. I love the jerky-sound the mix has as a result of that time signature. Anyway, nothing else to say. Except maybe to comment on the weather. (It's cold) Y-Y-YES

The arrangement in this is pretty conservative. You're sticking to the melodies from the original like a fat guy on a small stool. The piano playing the arpeggio in the background is a downgrade from the source sound, and doesn't really fit in the context of the mix, since it's so dry. The sound is nice, but it's still too basic. That "Hi!" sound effect is going to give me nightmares. You've overused the clap sample, try a snare or something in place. The sample is so basic. Apart from these problems, you've actually set up a nice overall soundscape. It's too basic for OCR's standards, but it's good for a first-time submission. Work on improving the overall quality of the mixes and you'll do fine. NO

Pretty basic soundscape. Not mixed particularly well. The bassline sounds quite dissonant to the other melodies playing over the top. The percussion is dry and bland. The synths are dry and bland. The piano is dry and bland. The mix is dry and bland. For going on for 5:33, this needs a lot more ideas, and much better production. Vig summed it up well in saying it's "Mechanical and repetative." NO

Source: http://www.doulifee.com/prc/TheOrichalcon/Orbitus.s3m Direct Sampling, ahoy. This is pretty much just a sound upgrade of the original. The arrangement is exactly the same right the way through with a few additive bits around the ripped melody. You need to put a lot more effort into arrangement in future. NO OVERRIDE

There are no strings at 2:30

Starts off sounding iffy, the kick initially sounds out of place, but as the snare comes in, it's apparent that you've set up a very cool and powerful 80's electro style beat here. Very awesome, although apparent that it's heavily influenced by the sound of the source. The arrangement is different enough here. In setting up such a thorough soundscape for the mix, the mixer's also set up interesting arrangement to surround the melodies borrowed from the source. I don't see any particularly strong reason to reject this. It's creative, enjoyable to listen to and well produced. YES

This reminds me of Tchaikovsky's music. Especially the quieter section. Which relies more on getting the melody accross in bits and pieces, rather than with bigger climactic sections all together. Either way, there's no ballet going on to distract one from the shoddy production on the samples used. The reverb has this awful muddy feeling over it making the string, bass strings, drum sample, everything flood together and creative a very muddy, unclear and unpleasant soundscape. I'd say your arrangement is fine the way it is. The quieter section is actually quite nice, though it could be a bit more involved, it's really the production that's killing the feel of that section. Fix up the problems with the production, and you might have a winner here. NO

Wow, it's so unfortunate that this is so quiet. It sounds like it's recorded in Mono, even though it says Stereo. This could be so much more powerful if it wasn't so limited. Some creative stuff in this, it's not the most amazingly daring arrangement, but it is a very interesting one. As Gray pointed out, we've NO'd blad before over production alone, but I'd put this at the other end of that scale, being over-produced rather than under-produced. Either way I end up passing it if it's enjoyable and a good arrangement. YES

Don't question the judges, or bad things will happen to you in your sleep. Congrats to Koelsch. I still love the sax in this.

Very cool intro. The vox thing at the start is very haunting. You've set up a great soundscape here, and the arrangement idea is wonderful. Unfortunately I don't think you've pulled it off just perfectly yet. To start with the guitar, you have a nice grunge going, but it's so hidden in the mix it's almost inaudible. Boost that guitar up and let the listener be overwhelmed by that grunge. The drums are sub-par. I have that soundset too, and you've pretty much left it dry, so it sounds quite lame compared to the grungey guitar you have going. Put some non-fuzz distortion on it and pitch it down so you have a deeper sound to go with the guitar. The voice clips that you have over the top midway through are out of place, they're taking the focus away from the soundscape. I can't see how they really fit in. The vocals from around 3:10 fit in perfectly with the soundscape though, as it melds in with the guitar. The arrangement is great. Your main problem here is sound quality and mastering. You just need to push out the grunge sound of the mix, and fix up those drums and you have an instant winner here with the industrial/grunge fans (such as myself.) The ending is abrupt, you'd be better off fading the instruments out over the ambient soundscape you set up in the beginning than just stopping it like that. Fix this one up and resubmit it, 'cause it shows great promise. NO

Compositionally, this is far superior to Figaro. Rather than going with basic sounds and just relying 100% on the melodies, this one takes some very creative ideas and executes them in a way that only Shna can. Most of the chiptune leads in this have creative sequencing with pitch slides and such right the way through. As Vig says, this one moves beyond the limitations of a simple chiptune, similar to the Mazedude Earthbound mix that was passed recently. It takes the good parts of a chiptune and translates them to a better soundscape to give a proper audio experience. Everything flows together pretty smoothly. The arrangement is dysfunctional, but it always comes together in the end. There's no real "climax" to the piece, in actuality it sounds more like Shna is taking the listener on a very intense drug trip, so the piece is one whole orgasmic climax. There's nothing wrong with chaos if it falls in to work under the guidelines, this one does. The sound quality is sub-par to start off with, but that's just part of the piece. Shna's gradually built on the quality throughout the piece until you eventually reach a very pleasing level. Even the source material to this piece was very dysfunctional, I'd almost think that Shna was the one that made that piece too from the sounds of it. He's done a good job with it here. Let the drug trip begin. YES

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