Malcos

Arrangement is interesting, although the texture of this mix gets very thin indeed at times. The drums are very simple, not much energy there most of the time. Comparing it to the source tune, a lot has been done, but ultimately this is not enough in my opinion for OC. While my main quips are about the percussion and relative sparseness of the tune, to add to the comments already made, this just didn't sound engaging enough to me overall. Needs more development and progression. NO

I can see why this is borderline for the panel. While the standard for piano pieces is high, I won't dismiss an effective piece just because I think the playing style is 'too simple'. The human element is definitely there with this one, and it's 'nice' - a little conservative maybe, but enjoyable to listen to nevertheless. Next time make it longer though please. YES

That guitar like lead synth didn't sound too nice. Some of the sounds in this are great, others sound really raw and nasty. Nice drum beat, perhaps if the kick was louder the song would have more of an impact - and that's not to say the beat sounds weak because it doesn't. I like the arrangement, lots of breakdowns and buildups, which works with the James Bondy universe. This is good now, but not up to the oc bar yet. With some refining of the sounds, bit more kick drum, and a little more work on the mixing, this would be a yes. NO

The pulsing synth on the right would probably do some kind of sucking thing to your eardrums on headphones (which might be uncomfortable!) The production is absolutely crisp, these motif sounds are solid. The vibe is excellent, however subjective that might sound! I thought that overall this was more groove based than anything, and it does get a little repetitive towards the end; perhaps if the mix was shorter it would have had more of an impact. However, with those wicked rhodes chords sections, and the way this was put together, I just gotta say YES

This is some good arrangement, there is a lot in here to listen to. The tempo change in the intro didn't bother me at all, if it was anywhere else in the song it may have done. The sample quality is not of the highest degree, but this mix is not relying on the sounds. When it comes to sound quality vs arrangement, more often that not, arrangement wins with me. I think that with this level of arrangement I will say YES

This needs to be mixed up, the simple pattern just keeps going without variation or progression. Take heed of all the advice above to make your future mixes more engaging. NO

That string cut off is terrible in the intro. Er, no quantization of the main synth, which sounds too grating as it is. My ears! Hmm, a lot of other things don't sound quantized either. Just bad. NO

Wow this singing is great, nice arrangement, and it flows really well. This will become a favourite for many I'm sure. YES Edit: I dare someone to no this.

After listening a few more times, I can definitely say that although this is an interesting take on the source, I would have liked it if there were more original ideas in here. It has been arranged somewhat, and isn't a rip, but the re-arrangement is too conservative. Mix it up some more and this will be a yes from me for sure. NO (Please resubmit)

Nice. Very full arrangement and I like the energy and rhythm. The frequency area around the kick drum sounded somewhat, er, 'clumpy' on my speakers, but other than that, the mastering here was good. One could say that the feel isn't very different from the original, however there are lots of original synth lines in the mix. Apart from the sample from the intro, which sounded a bit awkward I thought, this is solid. YES

I liked this a lot. I thought that perhaps the high end of the piano sounded a little piercing, but maybe that's just my ears playing up, cause I've just recovered from a bad cold! Nice arrangement, and although I would have liked some more movement at times, this was an emotive piece first and foremost, and I found it to be effective. In other words YES

This kick goes down LOOOOW. I think it would benefit from being pitched a bit higher otherwise those with smaller speakers would find the mix a bit weak sounding. I can see what this mix is trying to do, and I really like the way that the arpeggios and other elements have been used along with the source chord progression, but for progressive trance I would have liked some more variation, perhaps adding more sounds into the drumbeat, or changing the feel a bit; I'm not sure that the rather minimal varitions and uncomplicated structure here justify this mix being 6 minutes. We don't have many mixes as relaxed and chilled out as this one, I would personally like to see a slightly shorter mix of this with some more progression in it resubmitted. NO

No, upgrades are not what we are about. Percussion is interesting at times, but this is gonna be a NO

Man the amount of drum Rex files in this... The filter at the beginning was quite piercing (careful where you put that resonance), and overall this relies on effects too much. If you're gonna do that, then the effects could be constantly changing with automation. Guitar sample is pretty nasty, mixing is very cluttered. I would say make your own drumbeats, you can always use a loop to support a drumbeat that you've created - basically it shouldn't be obvious that you've just used a naked drumloop, it sounds very amateur. The screaming distortion works well only if you don't have as many instruments as you do in this mix, just muddies everything up. Ending was pretty nasty. I'd say you need some more experience with the program you're using (Reason?). NO

Love this, wicked all round. Unfortunately yes, this does lack an audio focal point. I would really like to see this resubmitted with a melody or something that can help carry the listener throught the mix. NO Please resubmit.

Nice beat, although all the other touches in the background are drowned out because of it. I think the flanger/phaser was overdone, as a whole the production lacks subtlety - the mixing needs some work. I agree with Liontamer on the German rapping issue, it was surprising to say the least. I like the flow, but this needs more work. Take heed of all the advice above. We do need more stuff like this on OC. NO

Er, this just sounds like the original, doesn't sound expanded or upgraded at all, way too short. NO

I liked the beat on this a lot, and the rhythms. Drum sounds and eq need a lot of attention and the cymbal was overused to death here. Synth choices weren't always the best match for the mix, and the punch that is suggested by all the elements isn't fully expressed. I think that all of the negative points here are just due to lack of experience with fruity and all the sounds. Once the mixer gets used to the program, some seriously banging tracks will emerge. NO Keep working at it.

Production is excellent here. I'm not an expert on heavy metal, but it does sound good to me and the attitude really comes off from the guitar playing. Because I'm not that familiar with the genre I can't be more contructive really, so it would be nice to get a lot of votes on this one. Overall I'm gonna give this a definite YES

The violin and string sounds in this are pretty dodgy sounding. I am torn on this one, because although it has atmosphere there are sections that just don't make the cut. The section starting at 2.30 is very empty indeed, and has a lot of silence in it. The last section 4.30 onwards sounds good but again the sounds do let it down a lot, and it feels very laboured, somewhat tiring to listen to by this point. While I like certain elements of it, as a whole piece it's lacking. NO

Whoops sorry to all this one seems to have been left here for some time. Seems you need to go to http://members.lycos.co.uk/lionheart2428 And then download it, if you want to play it in Winamp or something like that. We have quite a high standard for solo piano renditions here, and this one has playing that seems quite static and unnatural at times. Not disgustingly bad, and quite stylistic, but I don't think that this would compare favourably with what we have. This sounds like less of a piano solo and more like a piano part just taken out of a sequenced song. NO

Ok this is very loud. Next time try to match the volume of this with other songs so you don't kill someone's ears! This sounds great, I'm loving the sound and rhythm. Unfortunately, it's just a guitar rendition, I don't hear any original sections, so for me this is a case of 'too similar to the original'. Such a dan on the guitar, some improv would have really given this some flair and made it OC material. NO

Something about this piano really doesn't sound right, it's something to do with the release time I think. Clangy and robotic sounding. Volume dropout at 2.42 (and subsequent rise) sounds weird. This just sounds soooooo fake. NO A live performance with a real piano would definitely be better than this.

www.zophar.net/gbs/garquest.zip I think this is number 12. A lot of compression here, I can hear ducking on the beat straight away. Nice drum beat, with some nasty sounding violins (1.12). Texture is quite sparse. 2nd half is much better. This is quite good considering the source, but the violins don't sound too nice, and it is quite empty sounding overall. The last bit starting at 3 mins sounded a lot fuller, so you can make a thicker texture. NO Needs more work.

There seems to be a lot of off-key here, I'm not sure if it's just my ears, but things just don't seem to fit at times. Some notes just seem off, the arpeggios keep going even though they don't really have any harmonic relation to the chord progression underneath it. It's not even that blatant, but it is bothering me. Nice slow calm mix, doesn't really have an ending. The off-keyness means a NO