Digital Coma

I put off voting on this because I wasn't sure about it for a while. The piano progression seemed too repetitious, carrying the bulk of the melody for the most part, and the sudden mid-break transition into the windpipes sounded iffy. Much of the track felt stagnant. Then I realized SGX did the best he could transforming the light source material, soft underlaying ambience under moody chords, into boppin' trance. So this is actually a rather decent job. Drums are tight, programming is hot, and sequencing works well enough. Pleasant trance; nice to see ICO mixed. YES

Isn't that a double standard? We shouldn't have wavering, conditional guidelines like that. I'm thinking either we only fall-through passable mixes or we fall-through anything. Anyway, in this case the submission is no BEERmix and Haroon deserved the feedback.

Besides the grating synths and poor percussion, the big no-no is here is hardly any variation on the original melody. The mix sounds as if Zanarkand's chords were sliced into separate, alternating tracks to create movement between A and B sections. There is a little added harmony with backdrop programmed FX, but little else beyond that; progression is pretty stale. Not much of a rearrangement, trance-wise or not. NO

Grado SR-60's came in today, so let's put these babies to work. The Coop's music doesn't seem to have progressed much from his initial mixes in terms of sound quality and application; most of these samples and synths sound like default presets without much tweaking, again. Volume levels are quite low, again. So we've got average sounds and poor recording. So why am I going to pass this? Because The Coop has excelled at arrangement, again, and a few of his usual weaknesses actually contribute to this mix. The generic drumset and simplistic synths achieve a great 80's feel, with the intro'ing kicks and bassline sounding akin to Blue Monday; very poppish 80's indeed. Fantastic to see so much harmonious, original progression inspired by short theme. I'd love to see at least some attention focused on the audio bits, like a richer sound on the compressed kicks and actual reverb, but in the end, arrangement will always be valued highest, so I'll take what I can get. YES

Ahhh Jesse, you are not familiar with the ways of rimco! This is more of his archetypical new-age distortion, rendered in the form of Schala, tried and true. I see this as obvious subject matter for the mixer, playing his mezmerizing amb-textures and haunting synths over the dreamy theme. At this point though (wishful thinking), I'd like to see a different, radical interpretation for once. But even if this is plainly weepy-woo, it's no reason to pass up. What IS a valid qualm is that there isn't too much variation: the progression is mostly note-for-note and development is not as touched-upon as it should be. I say this is worth having on-board because the predictable yet gorgeous interpretation outweighs concerns of originality, which is seldom the case. YES

Mario-the-roommate walked by, letting me know that this is the best music he's heard me play yet. His reasoning? It sounds like everything else he listens to, being that he listens to mainstream club trance. Fair enough; I agree that the synths used sound very commonplace and the rhythm is nothing too ground-breaking. But as far as I can tell, the melodic development consists only of key changes and pauses, besides the awkward breaks. The repetitive beat could've been much alleviated with a change in drums and other elements at play, basic trance ideas I've heard in your other mixes. There ARE a few spicy sections, but not enough to push this along. I'm not saying my tastes are any more "refined" than Mario's, but I will say that this is not on par with your other work. NO

Super ideas & inspiration without their deserved execution? Dark Crystal, anyone? Pads can only carry a melody so far by themselves. This works as BGM for a short interlude between two scenes in a cheesy 80's muppet film, but not for what we're looking for. NO

Ditto both of the above; this doesn't even do very well at transcribing the original composition due to syncopated bassline bits not harmonizing with the lead and many elements having been lost to achieve an extended basic techno beat. We need more originality like the marimba run at 1'40", please. NO

LARRY U H0ttIe ( ~_^ ) PLZ PLAY SUM GUD BINNIE"TUNEZ" k! ^_______^

Seriously Daniel, lighten up! You're so serious on the job. Learn to live it up once in a while.

Well, that explains it. I am SO glad that this wasn't serious... unfortunately, this doesn't sound like it's seriously attempting to be funny either. Humor mixes have this certain intangible quality: they're either funny or they're not. Sort of a hit and miss deal. So NO thanks.

Boom, Boom, Boom. Weuuuur, neeeeeur, weeeeeur. La la la. This would sound GREAT as a recorded hybrid air-guitar/open-mic session. But... as a serious effort? This practically screams "sloppy", and it's unfortunate, because Crono's singing has usually been an act of finesse. But I can't dig the droll drum loop, chaotic backdrop flow, overdone sound FX, repetitious lyrics, subdued vocals, and lack of direction. Where is this supposed to go? Where did it even start? This just leaves me creasing my forehead. Ultimately, I'm not impressed enough to pass it. NO

We need a tie-breaker - analoq, Beatdrop?

Damn, this is hot (which I think was the point). Leaving only the bassline to carry the melody was a great idea, but it's more muddy and weak than it should have been. Love the wild dissonance in the howling synth solo. Things are overcompressed during breaks and the protracted fade-out feels way too long, but overall this theme finally has a befitting mix. YES

Soft and distant is right. The windpipe-sounding belltone connotes a sense of agony (which would be all too real if its pitch was any higher), and balance well with the slumbering bass plus pads. The steel guitar brings in a few more chords and this all just goes to hell, and that's no put-down. Not too much in the way of variety, yet this clearly succeeds at what was envisioned with Norfair. I don't know if it's just my speakers, but I heard some clipping at a few high notes. S'ok, goes along with the theme! YES

~Al~, my peers and I form a fusion of different backgrounds, perspectives, and ideas. This literal musical diversity will not always lead to unanimity. Some views will win out over others; that's the nature of voting. But it's not fair to condemn those who passed up a particular mix simply on the basis of your opinion of it. Enjoy the mix, but save the potshots for our other forums.

Nice dynamics and layered instrumentation; the intro is a good example of that. I'm afraid you haven't done enough with the original melody though, besides the unpleasantly off-key bits. The drums are also rather overused, especially alongside a 4/4 beat. Volume levels are a bit too low in the first half. The arpeggios and breaks are great ways of arranging the theme, but the interpretation is too strict as is. NO; am also interested in a resubmit.

This grew on me. It's nice to have a dynamically high-octane mix that kicks your ass the first time you hear it, but stuff like this... now here's a different story altogether. Instead of a musical escalator, reaching its finale at an apex, we have a wave whose climatic crest rolls under itself once, twice, thrice, and more until it washes off at the shore. It would seem that GrayLightning is experienced with a woman's nature of physical relief. Had to sneak in a relevant reference to sex. Anyway, the underlying chromatic melody repeats, but the harmonies are constantly morphing from submissive to dominating and back again to create, as Israfel says, an enveloping mass. Also, this probably wouldn't sound half as impressive if everything was in the same key. My only gripe is the backdrop pads' collective reverb sounding muddy at times; closer attention to mid-range frequencies would've helped. Me like. YES

You had little reason to have second thoughts. Beautiful development and progression, free-flowing acoustic movement without repetition. I can vouch for the arrangement quality as I've played the game. It'd be neat to have your vocals reprise, but it keeps'em fresh as a once-only. I can sit here and fill out this post field with a bunch of dazzling adjectives, but I'll let Dave handle that for once. YES

Piano sounds like it could use some velocity changes and reverb. Great ideas lost in lazy execution. Pity. NO

Yeah, distorted synths ruin this one. Repetitive progression and forgettable melody don't help. NO

I think this should've got the auto-rejection letter. Mediocre arrangement, poor mixing. Not much else to add other than NO

Decent orchestral dynamics. That brings this to the borderline. What doesn’t let it cross is a bit lacking piano font (clipping doesn’t help), drums seeming to be in a world of their own, acoustic guitar unpleasantly popping in, break-in to melody after faux crescendo climax at 2:16, which really threw me for a curve and left me gasping. And then the same fake-out at 3:44? Too much. Your orchestral knowledge is evident through the harmonization, yet rhythmically this simply jogs in place, irritating in its drawn-out, yawn-inducing nature. NO

Very dry guitar and piano leads. They could use their fair share of that massive drum and bass reverb! Rather unappealing progression, poor mixing, and off-key bits like :58 kill this one. NO

Let’s see... volume issues, overused guitar feedback, paltry dynamics, FL default sample drums, overdone wah, no countermelodies, sad ending, little rearrangement... NO