ambient

I second what Black_Doom said, great melodic, slightly melancholic dubstep mix. Excellent reintepretation.

Pretty. Freaking. Awesome. Non stop frisson from start to finish. Had to check out the Mega Man remix, awesome job on that one as well. More, please!

Ecco the Dolphin, I remember playing this game, and I remember that I was frustrated at the time that the dolphin had very limited and nonviolent attack options. Had I been a bit more mature at the time, I would have probably enjoyed the game more. As far as this mix goes - I do not think that it goes enough in the direction of being a ReMix/rearrangement. It is more of a cover. It preserves the same mood and much of the same notations for most of the instruments from the source throughout the mix. The only truly new thing that I notice is the change in the bass notation at around 1:40. So, this fact alone would elicit a NO from the judges. I liked the woodwind lead, you managed to make it sounds pleasant and natural, at least to my ear. The strings that come in around 2:08 sound pretty good too. Drums are ok, they sound a little bit distant (too much reverb) and the notation is sparse and basic, but it could work, depending on the context and the rest of the mix. However, I am concerned whether they will sound too lo-fi if they are brought a bit more to the forefront. Unfortunately, most of the remaining instruments/vsts sound rather lo-fi - especially the bass, vocal pads, and synth pads/stabs. Both bass and vocal pads sound robotic and unnatural. You will need to come up with new and interesting ideas for the rearrangement and improve your sound quality. Perhaps, you can start with focusing on production and making this mix into a well-produced cover? During this process you will likely get some arrangement ideas, and if not, you will have improved your production skills.

Man, that track by The Others, pretty f-ing awesome. It's rough, nice beats, plus it has that unpolished rough-around-the-edges underground sound to it, which I love. Awesome track, really. If the Prodigy were making dubstep back in their Music for the Jilted Generation days, that's what it would sound like. Undersea Palace does have some similarities to the Terminator theme, which I have exploited to some degree in my Chronodyne remix. I would say that you have done a good take on the arp - it reminds me of Marylin Manson's Resident Evil theme. My main issue with your remix is that aside from that arp-like pattern, I have a hard time recognizing the theme. This alone would probably be a dealbreaker for the judges. Dial back on the departures from the theme, and you can have something very enjoyable on your hands!

Hmmm, Mass Effect - I actually just started to play the first game in the series and I don't think there was a single memorable theme just yet. Having listened to the source links, my fears remain - it is always hard to remix and reinterpret a track that is more of a background score rather than a theme with a pronounced melody. But let's put these caveats aside for a minute and check out the remix. I really like the intro, slightly distorted piano, airy pads/strings. You can make the bass section stabs a little quieter with less verb. You could also increase the attack on them, and overlay a bass saw synth to add a little more grit and make them sound like the Inception bwaas. So far, this is more or less a cover of Leaving Earth. Sounds like we are venturing into the trance territory. 1:40 to 2:40 - arrangement can definitely work, but you are missing a key element of trance music - where is that bass? If it's there, I can't hear it. Also, the drums need some work. The kick needs to be more substantial, I can't really make out the high-hats either (they quite distorted). Sounds like you layered your snares, but they still sound lo-fi. It is important to create a groove, even in a trance track, where the bassline works together with the drums to create a driving rhythm. Otherwise, the track will lack energy. Also, trance has moved on and developed significantly in terms of production in the last five years (at least). I recommend checking out Above&Beyond's Group Therapy podcast to hear what modern trance sounds like. In my opinion, trance music develops continuously, and the modern trance sound is a necessary evolution of the genre rather than a stylistic choice. 2:40 and on - nice break. 3:10 - I am liking those strings and the space you have created in the mix. High strings around 3:49, and especially when they reach 4:00 mark sound artificial and definitely need to be fixed. I am far from a pro, and even less than that when it comes to the type of instrumentation you are going for in this section, so I will let someone else comment on this part. 5:05 - awesome transition. 5:10 - ok, the mix sounds sparse at this point, and once again there are the same problems with the bass and the drums. The strings also sound too sampled to be synthetic and too robotic to be real. With better production values this mix will sound significantly better, but at this point the drums, the bassline (or lack thereof), and the occasional sample choices for strings push this remix below the bar. I would also consider making more of the mix sound synthetic rather than opting for using samples - this will fit the genre better and is easier to work with than making samples sound real. Once again, I highly recommend listening to A&B's Group Therapy podcast for inspiration.

Man, SuperiorX mentioned playing Red Alert over LAN, I remember playing it over dial-up... Really takes me back. Excellent remix, good to see beatdrop back! Hopefully more remixes are on the way!

Silky smooth and super chill. I am in general a fan of Ruku's work, and he stays true to form with this one.

Schala? Trance? Sounds interesting, let's check it out. Ok, the intro is pretty typical for a Schala remix, we have the typical Schala arp with other elements slowly coming in. No particularly new or interesting ideas, but everything is more or less well-executed. The string swells sound a little artificial, so you they would benefit from some additional processing/layering, maybe reverb to make them sound natural. Before I was able to put down my comments on the intro I finished listening to the remix. Then I listened to it a few more times, and really there are a few big picture issues with the mix that need to be addressed, otherwise we will miss the forest for the trees. First, the rearrangement factor is quite low. The only new and interesting aspect in this mix is the arpeggiator. And even if you programmed every note in there, it still sounds like it was put through an arpeggiator, which is not necessarily a good thing, since it is not used as a supporting synth but more as a lead. The mix is sparse, for a good portion of it you just have the arpeggiator, bass and drums going. Bassline is not particularly interesting, it's functional, and if you had some other interesting melodic elements going on, then it wouldn't be a problem. But when the bass is one of the main elements of your mix, it needs to be more interesting both in terms of sound and in terms of notation/arrangement. The acoustic parts are sparse, and not really rearranged, but rather sound "stripped" compared to the original. Which brings me to my second point - production. If your arrangement is not particularly inventive or dense, you need to rely on strong production and sound design to express creativity and present the source material with a different twist. Production is just very straight forward here, with nothing that keeps a listener interested. I thought drum sequencing was really good, and that the breakbeat section worked great, but here I will echo what others have said about drums - the kick is weak, the snare is not snappy enough (even after the edits). I think you are just using the wrong type of samples to begin with, these don't sound very fitting for the type of music you are going for. The remix is by no means bad, it's a good attempt that you can use to hone your skills. But if you want to make something that will pass the judges panel, it will sound very different from what you have now. I would recommend checking out the Above&Beyond podcast Group Therapy to get some production ideas if trance is what you are going for.

Alright, finally getting back to the community after a bit of a hiatus. Here is my info: ambient (yes, with a small "a") Real name: Alex Gventsadze Location: Georgia Occupation: Professional Services Preferred method of contact: PM Also reachable by: TBD Five OSTs I recommend: Chrono Trigger, Chrono Cross, Streets of Rage, Streets of Rage 2, Tekken Tag Tournament 2. About me: Far from a professional musician (though I have a bit of a background in classical piano and upright bass), my involvement in any kind of creative process associated with music is limited to what I do on OCR. I mainly focus on electronic music and could offer only limited input when it comes to other musical styles. I've been a part of the OCR community since the early 2000s.

Very enjoyable movie. I was surprised how much screen time was dedicated to Krypton and Jor-El, but it ended up working really well. The story was strong enough to carry the action for the most part and there were no usual Nolan-style plot holes. Amy Adams was great as Lois, even though she doesn't really look the part. Action sequences with Faora were especially good. The action and effects with all the collapsing skyscrapers and DBZ aerial hand to hand combat could have been cut down, there was just too much of it, it was hard to absorb everything that was going on and I quickly lost interest in following it. The scene with Superman battling the world engine could have been shortened dramatically too. Just too much Matrix Revolutions type CGI action all around bored me in parts. Other than that, a great reboot by Snyder, Nolan, and Goyer. Next time, less grandiose CGI shitstorm.

Was I wrong to assume that this deserves a topic of its own?

How come there is not a topic about this yet? http://uk.gamespot.com/news/kiefer-sutherland-confirmed-as-snake-in-metal-gear-solid-v-6409372?tag=Topslot;Slot2

Some really cool ideas here. However, this needs a lot of polish in the production department, and that could potentially be that as I think the rearrangement factor is strong enough for the portion of the source material used. But then again, it may work against it that only the first half of the theme was used.

Awesome. Can I quote you?

Swype is indeed awesome!