tweex

Wonderful man. I'll be more than happy to give some these bad boys a listen!

Awesome! I'm looking forward hearing Don's work even more now!

NEW REMIXER Vurez Final Thoughts: Well, what can I say about Vurez? Like trying to defe his genre, it's very hard to pin down . What I can safely say about Don is that if he hasn't thrown in every element AND the kitchen sink, he's not happy. Vurez has a wonderful ability to take boatloads of instruments that would never seem to work together in the same song, and can mesh them together to make it sound as though they were made for one another. They only real re-occuring genre that we heard was more of a mexican/flamenco style with the classical style guitar. Don is an extremely talented programmer and has the great ability of coaxing the full range out of his sampled instruments. I hope to one day see a tutorial of how he gets his damn trumpets to sound so bloody nice without having them drowning in reverb! I greatly hope that Vurez continues subbing material in the NEAR future. In the mean time, I can get my fix from all the other material on his site that, trust me, sounds just as good if not better than his mixes. Excellent work from Don!!!

Steve Pordon review: WOW! 5 years from the last time Steve sub'd anything. The intro was worlds above anything that we've heard from Steve and it works much better. The grainy distortion wasn't doing it for me on the whole. It felt really distracting and pulled away from the mix. I have to say that I'm kinda disappointed in the sound of the guitar. With a five year break, I was hoping that production value of the guitar would have gotten much better, but it still has the same tone that lacks much high end frequency. The bleeps and blips were a cool idea, but they sound soooo muffled in the mix that they don't express themselves well or have any color to them. The build up at 4:30 sounded great. The low end was rising and sounded great and then it goes into nothing. No low end (which the track is plagued with all the way through) and it lacks any intensity. If I had to break it down, I would say that Steve and CotMM are so focused on the textures of tracks that they tend to forget the production value of the mix. It's an interesting piece, but I don't feel it explores much and is very similar to the work that was done on their Silent Hill track. With a 5 years hiatus, I have to admit that I'm disappointed in the way this mix turned out. Sorry guys!

I remember listening to this back in the dorm with Sephfire when he would put his OCR library on random. Opening guitar sound was interesting, but like many other intros from Steve, it completely disappears with little to no warning making the transition feel awkward. Production wise, this mix sounds much better than everything we've heard from Steve so far. The guitars have more headroom in the high freqs (maybe even a little too much in the plucky guitar). The drums have more punch than Steve's past mixes, but could still use more. The kick is much stronger though, and that helps a lot! The solo guitar performance is sloppy here and there, but he always pulls it back into the fray if it gets too unwieldy. The outro was just a repeat of the intro, which really felt out of place and ended abruptly. A good idea in theory, but the execution was a little weak. However, Steve really stepped up his game for this mix and I feel it's definitely his best work to date!

And we're back to the GM sounds in the intro . Not a fan of the intro, but then the real mix comes in. Much better tone in the guitars from the past mixes, but there is still room for growth. The drums are probably my biggest qualm as they lack any kind of punch to them, which for this genre, is a MUST HAVE!! THe performance of the guitar is a little wishy washy in the beginning but Steve seemed to find the pocket pretty well a little later in. The exposed GM drums were not my favorite and the ending was super abrupt. I can heard Steve pounding on the door that will take him to the next level, and with just a few changes, I really think he can blow it up. On to the next!

Ok, right out of the gate, this intro has me groovin! The hand percussion is really cool and it sounds great. THe echo electric guitar also sounds really nice. The performance gets a little hairy here and there, but I can easily get past that. However, it took 1:45 minutes to get into the meat of the song. The sudden change was a abrupt and devoid of high end head room. The intonation/pitch of the solo e guitar is pretty off here and there. The transition back into the percussion and e guitar was also abrupt. I would have LOVED to hear more development of this section as, production wise, it was the strongest. However, the acoustic drums that come in with this section really added a lot but it really needed a bass line in there to keep it going stronger. The fade out took way too long to come in as that section just repeated over and over again. Once again, it's good to hear Steve get away from the GM sounds and I will give him mad props for that alone. The arrangement here was a just a little too empty for me to really get into the vibe of it.

Ok, right off the bat, we hear the very midi sounding bass that Steve has been using a lot in past mixes. Not a huge fan of it, since the track is a rock mix. However, the track kicks in and we hear a lot going on. Arrangement wise, this is definitely the most complex mix we've heard from Steve so far, but the mixing of it kinda makes it hard to hear what all is going on. The power chords are buried so far down in there and have such little tone that they never really drive the song they way they're supposed to. The performance is a bit dodgy here and there, but I'll chalk that up to this being a really fast tempo'd piece. However, all that being said, Steve has stepped way out of his comfort zone with this mix and, for the most part, left all the GM stuff behind him, and for that, I give a resounding Huzzahh! Definitely keep at it!

Interesting intro. Very creepy and mood setting although it feels out of place with the type of remix this is. It disappears very abruptly, but that's not a deal breaker. The acoustic guitar sounded great when it came in. The electric guitar could definitely use more high end as it has very little headroom. Now, all of that said, this production quality is much better than most of the past mixes from Steve and I have to give mad props for that! The playing, while not perfect, is VERY solid. Intonation in the guitars is strong and the song flows really nicely. All in all, definitely one of the best mixes we've heard from Steve up to this point. Keep it up mate!

Hmm, well it seems that Steve came all this way only to slip back into his midi sounding roots. Everything seems to be out of tune with one another in the intro and then when the piano comes in, wow, big pitch difference there. The production value just kills this for me! However, there is one HUGE thing to point here. Arrangement wise, this builds up to something much more complex and involved than Steve's previous mixes which is a huge piece of growth. With this mix moving into a really good arrangement direction, I only hope the production is close behind. That being said, the problem I have with the arrangement is that Steve worked it all out, then copied and pasted it again to double the length of the song, almost as though it was straight out of the game. Come on Steve, rally back for me, buddy!

Steve Pordon review: As it's not really easy to distinguish who did what, this might be hard to separate the two remixers out, but oh well. Interesting intro. A very creepy vibe which is very appropriate given the subject material. The transitions were an interesting idea. I'll give the lack of punch in the drums over to the creative notion that they were trying to create the idea of a poorly transmitted radio signal. The automated panning of the guitar was a nice touch all around. I generally don't like guitars drowning in verb, but considering the vibe they were going for, I actually really enjoyed it here and there. A very simple and minimalist arrangement, which has Steve written all over it. A very experimental piece, but it worked pretty well.

Ok, when we start off, we hear a MUCH better high end synth and it sounds great. It slowly builds into the meatier sections of the song. The kick is really subdued and is lacking the better tone Steve's previous mix had. Arrangement wise, I can hear some growth in here in comparison to his previous mixes, but Steve has shown himself to be a textures man. I think the biggest issue I have is that the instrumentation in this is really groovin, but the drums just feel so lackluster. If they would have been big bold and beautiful, I would have felt much better about the mix. Personal preference tho !

Steve Pordon Review: Haha, hilarious opening line . The intro does a great job of building some suspense even though the strings are little painful to me. However, what we hear is a GREAT handling of the kick in comparison to Steve's other work, which might be the mastering that Compyfox did. Even if it is, I hope to hear Steve move in this direction in future mixes. The sound is a much more clear tone and we can really hear it. The guitar (I'm assuming that's what it is) gets REALLY repetitive but it's not a deal breaker. The arrangement is very simple like the other tracks that Steve has worked on. The fadeout actually worked decently well .

Cool intro. I kinda like the launch sequence SFX in there. A cool touch. This track is very similar to Steve's Castlevania's mix in it's sound and arrangement, but think one drives a bit faster. The kick is a little subdued, but the drums do have a pretty darn good groove to them. The frequency range is also under utilized here, much like Castlevania. I'm looking forward to hearing what Steve has next!

Ok, so right off the bat, this track starts out with a much better sound than Steve's first mix. The beat is nice and funky with a nice down tempo bass line. The gated/filterd synth has a nice sound to it, but does get a little repetitive to hear. I enjoyed the classic style synth lead. I wish it would have had a little faster attack on it, but that's personal preference. A nice pad of two would have really helped fill this out a little more, but on the whole, it's not a half bad track and it shows a lot of growth from Steve's first mix!

The great thing about this "Review an entire Artists body of work" is that I'm being introduced to remixers I didn't even know were here!. Well, here we go with Steve Pordon. Final Fantasy prelude has been a classic through gaming, and we have a very traditional rendition of it here. The opening section with the awkward pause in between the two sections was a little jarring for me even though Steve was trying to give the idea of an orchestra warming up. Cool idea, but the execution was pretty weak on it. The arrangement is very straight forward with not much variation. The production value is the biggest issue I have here and it sounds like it's right out of FF7 or even FF6. However, despite all of that, I'm looking to hear how Steve grows as an artist.

NEW REMIXER Steve Pordon Final Thoughts: Mr. Pordon is one of OCR's founding remixers and the VAST majority of his work was submitted in the early 2000s with a brief 5 year hiatus in which he subbed something new in 2008. Steve has been an interesting mixer to follow. His sound began as something very simply and VERY midi-esque. So much so, that I did have a hard time getting through some of the tracks. However, over some time, Steve brought his guitar out of the closet and started producing more rock based tracks. It was easy to hear how his arrangement style became more complex and interactive with practice and repetition in his mixes. His production quality, however, is probably what I had the biggest issues with. While I have no doubt that it improved over the few years of his mixes, it never really felt to me like it ever fully matured. Steve always seemed right on cusp of a breakthrough, but it still seemed to fall short for me. Even though I wasn't a fan of his style of music or production value, I can still greatly respect him for the work he did!

A piano arrangement from DrumUltimA? It's awesome to see (and hear) Doug stepping out of his normal remixing comfort zone. The production value of the piano is a little low heavy with not much head room for the high end. It's also a little drowned in verb, but that's just my personal preference. However, the arrangement is where it's at. Metroid is know for being creepy, and Doug conveys that in his progression and chord voicing choices for the piece. You can hear his lead synth lines and playing style in previous mixes come out here in the way he plays the piano. This track has a wonderful dynamic arch to it. No change is too abrupt nor is it too slow. It builds and builds nicely and then it will slowly come back down. Very nice work!

A drumming only remix? Go figure it came from Doug ! Right out of the gate, the sounds are great. Whether they are sampled, live, or both, they sound wonderful. The arrangement is really where this bad boy is at. The attention to detail in this is immaculate. Being a drummer myself, these kinds of piece enthrall me. Doug uses single hand drums as a solo lead instrument with great success. Very reminiscent of a Cuban drum circle. I love it. He brings in great dynamic shifts here and there to give this plenty of variety. The syncopation is awesome, and Doug makes good use of it during the "solo" sections or he'll have multiple drums do it to accent an area of the track. Bottom line, masterfully done by Doug.

Great opening with the flute and organ. I've never heard those two instruments really duet before, and it was pretty darn cool. I loved the higher octaved/arpeggiating bass. It's going everywhere. The guitar sample was a bit weak and sounded very exposed, but it wasn't terrible by any means. We're hearing very similar drums tones as we've heard in Doug's past mixes: very acoustic and very peppy, but still soft at the same time. It's an interesting juxtaposition. THis track has a crap ton of dynamic shifts in it. One minute, we're rockin out, then next we're mellow, next we're being gripped by the cinematic organ, and then back to rockin' again. Rinse and repeat. I like it as it gives the track a lot of variety. It's very apparent that Doug's "arrangements" are best expressed in his drumming and percussion work, which considering his profession, much less his remixing name, seems appropriate . Good job mate.

Wow, almost two years between this mix and his first. The intro is excellently done and creates a great vibe. We hear a very similar synth to his first remix come into play right at the start. But then the drums come in and they start rockin with a DK sounding synth. Very cool. The snare playing is solid, and Doug shows his percussion mastery here as well. His voice brings a nice ethereal tone to the mix and I like it. The piano breakdown was wonderful. I like the classic synth sound for the bass mixing with the acoustic drums; very interesting! The lead synth gets a little piercing when it goes up into the higher register and stays there for a bit, but it comes back down again. God, do I love that violin. Your mamma knows how to wail on that bad boy! All in all, not bad, mate (minus the fadeout ).

Our first mix from Mr. Doug. The opening ambient SFX was great. The pure tone of the synth juxtaposes quite nicely! The quirky drum beat creates a great vibe. The bass chuggs along pretty well in there. The strings are a little electronic-y for me, but they add a nice touch. Love the oboe tho. The slow breakdown section is great and brings in a great dynamic change. The marcato strings are a little slow in attack, but it's not a deal break at all. The LIVE violin is gorgeous. So much so that my wife just leaned over and asked me, "Is that from the Spanglish soundtrack?" Congrats on that ! This is a very minimalist piece in a lot of ways, but it still has lots of movement. I really like it. Doug's drumming ability has never been in question, and he finds the perfect balance here. Awesome work!

That's pretty phat, Rashad! I'm dancin' in my seat.

Hey everyone. I have a project that I'm working on that is in dire need of female vocals. Any recommendations that you guys have would be lovely! Because the project hasn't been released, unfortunately, I can't release it right now, but I will be able to send it to any prospective vocalists! Thanks!

Awesome suggestion! I DL'd it yesterday, and it has permanently been added to my master output track for any song I do!