prophetik music   Judges ⚖️

opens with a slick bass groove. vocal elements at 0:10 are quite sharp in terms of frequency - siblants especially are quite bright. there's some Hurry in there and then it's back to the original lick. we finally get some full voice at 0:46, with some full band sound. it's surprisingly light under the voice part - there's guitar mostly in the right ear, bass and drums, but nothing that i'd call rhythm guitar or a pad that i can hear. it drops down again for a verse/spoken section at 1:00 or so, and this works through some more alternate sections of spoken word and singing. the singing is hard to hear cut through the band sound - it doesn't look like there's much formant boost on some of those sections, i'm wondering if boosting ~2200hz would help it cut. the band section after this is super technical and sounds great, i especially like the tom work. the chorus following has a lot of sections with the singer singing higher notes and not much underneath them - this doesn't sound particularly strong since there's little to connect the two elements. there's a build with some growls through 2:15 which is a transition point. the Tool influence is immediately recognizable when it comes in, hard to miss on the drum solo with repeated guitar parts over top. this is pretty darn close to the original Tool influence. the tom section ends with more call/response of singing and growls, and there's some off-signature Hurry elements as an interim section here. a bit more call and response, some rhythmic elements, and it's done. if i am honest, there are sections of this that i don't care for pretty strongly. i felt that the sections with the vocalist up high and there being little to no harmonic support underneath (like at 1:50) really felt unbalanced. from a technical standpoint, the vocal elements for the most part were executed competently, but there's a few times where approximants like the 'w' sound in "wide awake" at 2:10 or 3:16 took too long to come out and sound schmeared as a result. the band-only sections are technically proficient (3:09 is insanely flashy), extremely fun to listen to, and influenced heavily enough by the Tool source track to the point that there may be concerns from some judges. separately, from an arrangement standpoint, the arrangement is freaking nuts, guys. this is a beyond awesome adaptation of two really fun originals, and they're interwoven enough that it's not just one's the verse and the other's the chorus. i mentioned a few times that i feel that support was needed to lash everything together, but from a 500-foot level, this is bananas. lastly, from a mastering standpoint, my main complaint was the heavy siblant sound from some of the spoken word elements - beyond that, this sounds super clean and well-handled. i think there's a few missteps. but overall this is an incredible concept with some truly superlative execution on the instrumental side and overall excellent arrangement. nice work. YES

this has a lot of the themes from Earth, which is the only track from the OST i've ever remixed myself. was neat to hear the different elements from a track i haven't heard in a decade. opens with the quarter note theme from the original alongside some pads and swooshes. there's some keys, but it really hits at 0:30 with strings coming in. they're a bit muddy in the low end and repeat the same pattern for quite a bit. there's some electric guitar for a bit on the arpeggiated lead, but i also hear some clipping at 1:01, and a lot more at 1:06 and after. the additive arrangement techniques continue with a synth voice element and some cinematic strings. there's a lot overlapping by this point - maybe 1:35 or so - and it's mostly doing the same thing as the original through all this. there's a drop at 1:59 and some rhythmic elements added in, which is a nice change. a plectral instrument is added at 2:13 and again outlines the melodic material with some other light arpeggiation added in. we continue to see additive arrangement as more elements are added in, making what's effectively an additive crescendo through the next 30s or so. there's a lot of clipping around the 3:04 mark for several seconds when the bass instrument comes in. there's a big wall-of-sound transition at 3:27 with some taiko and other rhythmic elements added in. this sounds awesome but clips like nuts - the bass and the bottom end of the drums are heavily conflicting with each other until 3:56 when they drop off. there's some outro material and it's done. this needs a significant mastering pass. there's a lot of EQing and volumization that can be done especially on the low end to help with the huge clipping that's going on. i don't even really hear compression or a limiter engaging, so something that can reign in the big sections without losing the timbral contrast of the quieter parts would be critical. from an arrangement perspective, this is a fairly conservative but competent arrangement. i wouldn't have minded hearing some more creativity around the melodic line and chord progressions, given that most of the countermelodic and harmonic material you used was already present in the original. before this passes, for me, i'd need to hear a significant EQing and volumization pass made so that the mastering is much cleaner. the arrangement stuff isn't required but it'd be a stronger track if it's considered. NO

post-rock? sign me up! some really pretty flourishes to start. the bass does something really weird at 0:26 and again at 0:30 (detuned? is it scooping?). the drums start at 0:39 and it's a nice feel already. the addition of the rhythmic element at 1:04 in the acoustic is a neat feel behind the drums. we get the b content at 1:57, complete with shift in time signature. i like the lead being carried by the guitar octaves there. we finally get some real drums at 2:35 and it blows through the chords again before a big hit at 3:28, with some falling action. after a bit of a bridge, 3:52 begins the real build, and this has a suitable payoff of almost a minute of full bore material. finally hitting the electric guitar lead feels really great here. i wouldn't have minded if the guitars were more wall-of-sound here, but the band sound here is still great. 5:12 is the beginning of the end. zach's lead guitar parts here are reminiscent of some of OA's stuff over the years, so that's a fun correlation. some washes of sound and the track's done. this is a lay-up as expected based on the contributors. excellent work. YES

opening is very similar to standoff, but quickly shifts to an acoustic-driven psytrance groove. this progresses through the chord progression before getting to the first break at 0:54. audiomint comes in here - it's not super clear what she's singing at first, as the pronunciation isn't super clear. open your mouth when you sing! that'll fix most of that right away without changing anything else. a bit more emphasis on the consonants will help too. there's some rising action with the strings around 1:10 and at 1:24 it really kicks it up. vocals are still clear in the mix, although i wouldn't have minded a little more formant boost around 2.5k-3k to bring her voice out more as opposed to just cranking it up. some sfx and the beat hits at 1:58. there's a really nice lfo distorted synth doing some fun stuff in the background here. this headbobs through the chord progression some more until we get to a string-driven section at 3:53. this is pretty dense in here with the low strings and some of the synth pads in the same area. there's a drop at 3:22 and a shift back to 12/8. kick has a ton of click on it which is a neat feel. some acoustic makes it back in which is nice - i was starting to lose the plot through some of the chord work without melodic backing. the mesh of acoustic and electronic at 4:02 is really nice. the gating effects applied once a while are fun too. it goes through the chord progression one more time and it's done. this is a pretty hip track as expected from a xaleph-fronted project. the beat is immaculate throughout. i would have liked to hear a bit of a clearer singing section, and separately i didn't connect a lot of the more beat-driven sections directly to Standoff's recognizable elements. i believe we're still >50%, but would have liked more overall correlation. this is still way over the bar though, excellent work as always. YES

my original vote criticized the instrumentation but loved the arrangement and concept. this has 4.6db of headroom. opens with piano (straight from the Siege track, to my ears) with some nice light strings over top. cello carries the melody after that and sounds great, really rich tone. it might be a touch loud, and the vibrato's a little aggressive in parts. 0:59's strings sound better than last time for sure. 1:32's change is still abrupt but not quite as weird as it was before, i think. cello and subsequent vocals sound a lot better. there's a highly artificial artifact in the waveform through this section that i don't know is intentional - it looks like you managed a volume shift by the gain knob on your limiter, which is kind of wild. it coincides with the entry of the choirs. this section with the two choirs sounds good, but i think the men's choir is a bit loud as it's hard to hear things beyond it when it's going full-on. 2:57's idea is super fun. from an execution standpoint, there's nothing in the middle of the chord stack besides some flute runs. there needs to be something supporting the higher strings so that the bass doesn't feel disconnected. when the brass drums come in, it fleshes out a lot. the drums really run over a lot in the mix though, so some more EQing may be needed there. the ending is a call-back to the Siege track, and feels pretty similar to the opening. from an execution standpoint, this is a lot better than last time. the strings overall are gobs better, the instrumentation has a lot more individuality to it, and the choirs sound great. i think right now though that the overall instrumentation and use of samples is right on the edge of where i'd consider it to need to be to be posted. there's some missteps in the mastering (like the density of the end section around 3:25) that i think keep it on the NO side for me, but i'm honestly going to wait on a few more votes before i make my decision. i think this is pretty borderline but the arrangement is really fun. ? edit 10/8: i am going to NO this. i believe the execution ultimately falls down in too many places. some major elements that come to mind is the rigid piano scoring, hard vibrato on the cello, 2:20ish's seemingly disparate elements, 2:57's emptiness under the string tune (just the cello and flute runs, but nothing supporting the melodic line strongly enough to count), and the compressor engaging at 3:21ish thanks to the drums having no room tone to them and the emptiness in the scoring at that same section. again, i love the idea - it's just not there on the execution side. NO

opens with some tambourine and strings. there's some little wind perks here and there as well to provide some texture. there's an ascending line at 0:27 that sounds like it is being layered and sounds discordant as a result, lots of major seconds next to each other. this progresses for about 40s in a continuing, overlapping, rising motion, alongside some orchestral percussion. there's a shift at 1:10 and the samples being used (which up to now have been not great but OK) are really exposed. the super-long attack on the strings and significant swell sounds pretty rough and unrealistic. there's also not a lot up to this point that i am associating with the original. there's another break at 1:45 and some pipes are added in. the original's material is behind the pipes solo, and it's a neat vibe. i like the tone of the guitar used. when the flute came in around 2:50, i'm finding myself wondering if that's the original audio with other stuff layered on top (we don't accept original audio here essentially at all). right after that there's some really atonal stuff that wasn't clear if it was intentional. 3:41's a rising action and clearly the start of something else from a feel perspective. this is mostly original to my ear but demonstrates better usage (for the most part) of the samples than earlier at 1:10. 4:15's return of the melody alongside some more cinematic strings is nice, although it's quite muddy as the low strings are just crushing the sonic space - the spectrum analysis of here has some really unique peaks as compared to a normal track. this kind of noodles through a lot of mud as the mid range gets overwhelmed by a choir sample, and then it's done. there is virtually no ending to speak of - not even ending on a chord, really, it just sounds unfinished. i think the mood you attained for the first several minutes is definitely in keeping with the original. you mentioned that as a goal and it's definitely accomplished. overall the usage of the strings - specifically in several of the sustains where they swell out of control, and in the low strings where it just dominates the texture - needs a lot of work. i thought the pipes stuff was really interesting actually and well-done. you'd want to confirm if you're using the original audio, as we don't accept original audio in most cases. the arrangement was quite meandering and didn't have a clear focus on a melodic line throughout. this is a technique that can definitely work in the right setting, but i found most of the meandering to be forgettable and not taking me along on a journey. there was no goal for most of the track. it'd be difficult to identify 50% of the track as having VtM:R source to my ears due to this. separately, there's no ending, and there was a lot of atonality that didn't seem to be prepared or set up in a way that i'd expect something like that to be - it didn't seem intentional, which is bad when it comes to tonal writing. overall i think this needs more attention on the strings usage throughout, some focus on the atonal elements where you've got long tails from notes overlapping other sustains, and some time spent paring down the arrangement to be less noodly and more focused. NO

i would never have thought of this in 3/4 tbh, given the strong emphasis towards the first beat in the measure (as opposed to 1 and 3, often used in 3/4 to keep it moving forward) and the flowing feel of the piece. i feel this in 6/8 more. opens with strings and keys in a cinematic crescendo. adaptation to 7/8 is done using a standard 2/2/3 pattern. nice flourish into the first presentation of the melody at 0:10. there's a big crescendo and shout at 0:22 that doesn't sound particularly realistic - i think it's the brass - but the following section is really nicely done with the sudden reduction in volume. vin runs at 0:32 pop in and out of the texture nicely as well. instrumental stacks at 0:43 do a good job coming out of the texture as well above the choral elements. there's a significant decrescendo and reduction of energy through 0:54 into 0:58. choral elements are starting to feel a bit overused here. 1:27's a reset, sort of, and there's another crescendo to a dropoff - really liking that effect. 1:47's where the trumpet leads the charge into another significant crescendo through 2:06's break. from there, it's a little bit of piano noodling and it's done. the piano here's saying some nice stuff but it's a little robotic. and then it's done. the bosendorfer's a great choice for this kind of music, given that it's so warm and rich without giving up the ability to cut through big orchestral stacks. this is a fun romp through one of the better Dark Souls themes. i particularly liked the swells into drops - you did a good job subverting what could have been otherwise a very bog-standard cinematic orchestral adaptation. excellent work. YES

opens with sfx and rhythmic elements. opening section is very quiet, maybe too quiet based on the breadth of dynamics in the piece. there's some string sweeps and bells far off, and these continue to accompany foley work until we get to the 1:00 mark when we start to get more instruments. i'm not hearing a ton of source in this opening section, but there's some very tenuous links to the bells and some melodic content. there are definitely nontonal elements around 1:26 which is an issue due to the very long reverb. 1:39 is kind of where things get going. this is very meandering. i can hear the B section of the melody in here, underneath some of the wandering ideas. there's some really odd note choices though (plucked/filtered bell instrument...is that a piano? at 1:50, 2:03, 2:08), and the verb tail is still really long which makes it even more dense. the low mids through here are very dense as well - the fundamental of the aforementioned bell/piano instrument is right next to the bass, and it's pretty muddy here as a result even before the low sweep synth comes. 2:16's a big shift. there's a significant reduction of backing elements in here so it's immediately less dense, but you've still got low strings, the piano instrument, and a bass instrument next to each other in the same range, and a distorted synth comes in later in the same range, so it's still dense. the melody's clearer here, which is good, and there's some fun ideas in the percussion and in the pizz strings that aren't in the basement. the piano gets more noodly as this section goes on, and the lack of clarity on the attack as a result makes it difficult to hear what's going on. 2:53's a shift to orchestral instrumentation. there's a lot of sustains here in the brass especially - it feels very over-orchestrated as a result. this is a super common mistake among people using orchestrated elements in edm and rock, and it's amazing how much body a piece gets by removing elements. cutting out a lot of the instruments sustaining notes would make it feel less mid-heavy and let the melody and percussion soar over the top. the big, blocky melody works really well with orchestral instrumentation, though, and this is a great transitional section to pin together the section before and after it. this would be a great opportunity to get after modifying the melody a bit if you wanted to. there's a tambourine that's used earlier but more heavily at 3:35, and it's very resonant and ringy - it'd be great if we could tone that back. the drop at 3:50 is a neat idea to change the feel a bit and mix it up. i think it could have been prepared a bit better so that it's not just a knee-jerk change. there's a note issue at 4:05.5 in whatever bell instrument comes in there, and it happens again a few seconds later. the additive crescendo from the pads and other instruments coming in sounds neat, but they are in general all lower instruments and it means that again it gets very dense very quickly. there's a bell instrument used at 4:27 in a percussive manner that is very piercing and was hard to hear. there's an ascending pattern to build tension - and then the instrument fades into a more meandering thing alongside more foley. there's some musicbox elements, and it's done. i know this track has been a journey! it certainly has changed a ton for the better since the last time i heard it. in general, it's still too low-mid dense (this is an instrumentation issue, not a mastering issue), and there's a lot of leaning on instruments with long tails (either by reverb or by design) that result in clashing tonalities. i think both can be mitigated by taking a surgical approach to each instrument and carefully either adjusting the range it's playing in (for pads, plectral instruments, and pianos) or trimming the long sustains and resonant freqs (on bell instruments). i personally didn't care for or get the first minute plus or the last 30s, but that's neither here nor there. i do think that having a clearer ending statement that's more rooted in the original and less interpretive might be a more effective way to close out the arrangement, but that might be personal preference from me. keep at it! you can do this =) NO

you stole my thunder with the play-by-play, so now i'm stuck writing actual notes. bah! opening piano is beautiful. it's a bit hammer-heavy of a tone but it's surprisingly organic as a result. opening cello work is, as you described it, pretty raw and emotive - there's a lot of bow sound/fuzz in the tone, but it feels very adjacent as a result. there's a few scoops which fit the style very well. the next section starting at 1:16 is a little slow to get going, but the sustains in the cello sound really nice when they come. there's a big shift at 2:22 for the 'big crash' section. i don't feel this is quite as well-handled and integrated as the equivalent part in the original. there's a lot of left hand in the piano so it sounds a bit dense, but that's more a recording issue than it is an arrangement element. the next section with the repeated ascending motif and slow decrescendo is really nice, though, and when it goes to the harmonized riff, the delicate backing in the keys is really pretty. there's some noodling through some chord progressions after that section, and a fade that i think probably could have been the end of the track comfortably. a few more times through the initial guitar arp in the keys and it's done. this is a pretty straightforward adaptation of the original. there's a lot of neat little things done to keep it from being a straight cover, and i appreciate those little bits and bobs here and there. i think that the transition in the middle to the bigger section could have been handled in a less angular fashion, and the end drags a bit, but overall this is a great arrangement with a lot to like. the realization of it is also superb - it feels very close to my ears and the recording is done in a very transparent manner. nice work. YES

opens with airy pads and some nice vocal elements. there's the slightest bit of overlap to indicate that they're layered else i wouldn't have been able to tell initially that it's done with a synth. technology has apparently progressed amazingly, because this sounds fantastic. the beat and backing elements at 0:31 are great, tons of space in the bass and the drums are nice and tight. the main riff at 1:04 is a little heavy in the left ear, but i like how it's being played and i like the escalation at 1:22 in the backing elements. there's a recap in the vocal elements starting at 1:42 - essentially a verse 2 - with some extra ear candy behind it to keep interest. the chorus/synth led section right after it has a lot of fun new content as well, including the vocal elements. there's a break at 2:54 and the really dumb lyrics are a bit more highlighted here, but it's effective as a break in the beat and vibe for a bit before the verse content comes back again. i'd have liked the guitar parts to be a bit louder here, as it's the only new thing that's going on in this section. i liked the subsequent guitar/synth stuff at 4:00 or so a lot. it trucks through some more chorus content, hits the flying high phrase once more, and it's done. this is great! it's got superb mastering throughout, it drives forward throughout and doesn't get stale despite some repetition in content, and the vocal elements really work well. definitely an obvious demonstration of your progress as a musician. excellent work. YES

great original! really slow, glammy synthwave vibe right off the bat. i think the snare's both a little short and a little high for the style. the track kind of noodles through the melodic material in a pretty straightforward fashion until like 1:35 when we get some altered chords. a few of these aren't handled quite as well as i'd hope and are a bit crunchy. we do finally get the B theme of the melody at 1:54, with some vocal pads layering it. there's some more slightly weird harmonies at 2:20 (parallel fifths are in general a little weird to western ears) and then it settles back down to the opening synth lick again. around 3:00 we get a synth solo which is a welcome departure from the sameyness of the first few minutes. there's also a slight change to the drums and backing elements in this section, which is also a first in the track to my ears. 4:15's the fourth or fifth copy/paste of the opening synth line, with a little added vocal wash the second time through. there's a sustain on the bVII chord and it's done. i think my biggest problem with this track is that it goes nowhere and it takes over five minutes to do it. there is so much sameyness throughout. this is easily a three-minute track scraped over five minutes of bread, and beyond that it doesn't really ever change backing elements or beat or instrumentation or feel during that entire time either. the shape of this track is lacking, and it's very boring as a result. you've got some fun ideas here - i think the initial style is really a great idea, and i think the synth solo was really fun! - but it's just so much drab around it. mixing up instrumentation can really help with this, as can adding some sparks of color here and there with added elements that aren't playing the whole time, or with drum fills. i mean, the drums essentially play the same thing >95% of the track - i get it's a ballad, but something's gotta add some life occasionally. i really like the idea, and i think that your electro-ballad approach is a functional one. i think it needs more verve and a better sense of dynamics and movement to get out of the doldrums. NO

that castlevania source is cursed. opens with some fun washes of sound and vocals, and then we're in the meat right away. some really impressive sound design in that first 30s. there's a huge hit right at 1:10 that's awesome. the continued distorted morphing bass through this next section is great as well, and the drum work in here is really superb. there's an extended build through 2:03 and then it goes nuts for a while. a tiny nitpick is that there's a lot going on in the low mids - it's not overly dense, but it's hard to grasp everything that's going on down there. there's a big hit at 2:17 where we finally get, over two minutes in, a real chord progression with sustains and everything. such a payoff! 2:45 is a shift in styles and is a huge fat edm beat that i can't get enough of. great idea to end it with a big style shift. the ending itself is a little sudden, but it works with how angular most of this is. the mastering isn't 100% bulletproof, but there's some really interesting stuff going on in here. the use of sfx and sweeps and distortion to keep everything constantly morphing and shifting is so technically impressive. excellent work. YES

opens with sustained strings and ambiance. bit of a LOTR vibe in the soaring string line. the bass instrument here seems really out of place compared to everything else going on. at 0:56 we start getting the bassline from marathon 2, and at 1:26 we get the main body of that theme. it feels pretty 90s for sure, but not in a good way. the lack of audible sidechaining on the kick and the synth guitar being the only instrument over the bass really doesn't feel nearly as fleshed out as the original (or other stuff by psykosnik) does...there needs to be something else filling in the freq range so it doesn't feel so hollow. also, the bassline at 1:57 isn't quite the bassline from M2 at 0:30 - the note before the highest pitch in the riff isn't right. the rhythm's recognizable for sure though. there's about 30s of copy/paste, and then 2:41's onto a new vibe entirely. this has some really nice cinematic elements. the lead tone - is that a high cello? - isn't very idiomatic but it's very lonely and evocative, i really like it. the arp's attack is a touch heavy and overlaps a bit which is a downer at the end of that section. 3:45 is back to the marathon 2 techno again. this all feels straight copied from the earlier section, which is a downer. 4:28's a new section, which is nice, although it's still struggling with the same issue (nothing between the bass and much higher lead instrument, drums are boring, no mastering really on this section). there's a high sustain before a rhythmic ending that doesn't quite work and needs more workshopping. then we get some ambience and it's done. this is really ambitious! there's a ton going on here, and i think from a story perspective the arrangement works really well. there's some really beautiful elements (like in the opening and at 2:41), and some that's really blah and needs some beef, like the techno sections. i think that reworking and spiffing up some of your synth choices will help a ton, as will dressing up some of the techno sections. NO

opens with detuned piano and some neat sweeping effects. that's a really neat effect at 0:27 on the filter, like gravitational lensing. there's some really delicate and pretty string work when they come in before 0:30 there. i also really like the snare when it comes in, there's a layered richness there that i really am into. 1:07's an escalation - it's still a little dense there (your bass instrument appears to have some overtones at ~96hz that are causing it to feel a bit dense, or maybe that's the low strings) but it's clearer than it was before, I think. there's some fun sfx after the 1:30 mark, and some neat rhythmic elements to keep it driving forward. the strings here started to feel a little copied in, given the repetition of the riff at 1:35 again at 2:00 or so. there's a staggered cutoff into 2:02's outro, and then it's done with some pingpong filter effects. this is a surprisingly broad adaptation of a completely different genre. there's a lot of little bits and bobs here and there that really add color to it. nice job. YES

looks like a lot of changes since the last time! that's great to see. the opening 7/8 groove is still great for this to highlight the arps. there is indeed a lot of distortion throughout, and as a result the track uses a lot of the audible freq range (much more of the high end than we usually see) - there's significant presence through 7khz which is really significant. the lead in particularly is boosted a lot, and there's a big spike at about 520hz and the subsequent octave (1040hz) when the instrument is around that C# range. it pops out a lot from the texture. i think having the lead be so heavily distorted/crushed as well really is a bit too much, the high-end noise is very grating after a while. 1:17's a shift with some panning elements. i think the lead distortion is more noticeable here - there's some high-end ring that's making my eyeballs itch. i like the doubling you add at 1:50 or so, but maybe just because it's not a distorted lead? also around here i noticed that the backing elements are roughly the same for the entire track up to that point. so i was looking for a shift to mix it up, and then at 2:06 it drastically changes! so that's good. it'd be nice to have that be more of a transition that ties the two sections together instead of just using the same lead and drums. i like the pacing of this section after the consistent beat - it's nice to have some slowdown. also - even this section is slammed against the limiter! the whole track is so loud, and this is just piano and a few synths, it shouldn't feel so blown. literally the entire track needs to go down by 3db. there's just no room to breathe. there's some fun synths and lfos at 3:34 as a transitional element and then it's back to a fuller section at 3:53. i wish the bass was a bit different here, but the extra backing glam helps this be not quite copy/paste from 1:50. there's at least some of an ending this time, which is also good, and then it's done. this is still very loud, and it's very distorted to the detriment of the piece, i think. most of the middle, from 1:00 through 3:20 and then 3:50 to the end, is visibly jammed against the limiter still. it just feels fatiguing to listen to. lowering the overall volume of every element so that it's not constantly hitting the limiter is going to help a lot. NO

opens with hugely loud snares and some synths behind it? and then the guiitars come in and i realize it's just very big arena-style mastering. the track sounds hugely scooped out - there's nothing in the mid range that i can hear, and it feels super blown with how noisy everything is. there's a ton going on in the low range where the bass and bottom string of the rhythm guitar are overlapping. i can hardly even hear the kick's beater tone, just some oomph from the bass end of it. opening synths are outlining the first part of the melodic line, if i'm not mistaken, without any of the rhythm. there's a break at 0:47 before we get back to balls-in-the-wall at 1:04, aping 0:55 in the original, i think. it plows through that material with another break at 1:49 for a few bars before building back up for the final blow at 2:04. the section from 2:04 through about 2:24 at least is straight copy from 0:17-0:47 outside the end fill, which is disappointing (for example, compare the fill at 0:39-0:40 to 2:26 and then compare the prior 20s or so for each spot). then there's one last fill and it's done. this is certainly a different feel from the original! i like the idea of throwing out the rhythmic elements entirely and just focusing on the pitches with a raging inferno of a band behind it. i think the overall shape of the track is solid too, with the different breaks in the piece and a shifting tone in the middle at 1:33. i think the mastering sounds really rough, though - i get wanting it to be this grungy, dirty tone, but it's so muddy down low (and normally I'm not the guy that cares about that!). the synth overpowers everything except the snare almost completely, and then the guitar, bass, and drum toms and kick are just sitting on top of one another. there's also a lot of sub-40hz content which is contributing to the mess. lastly, and this might be more personal preference - i didn't care for the guitar just strumming through the chords for most of the song. there may be more going on and it's just blown away by the synth being so loud, but the guitar really doesn't feel like it's doing much besides providing chorded background (and mud in the basement). i'd have wanted to hear it more involved in the arrangement instead of being on autopilot. i love the idea - i really do. i currently think this is enough arrangement ultimately if it was mastered better, but the mastering really drags it down. NO

Lucas Guimaraes - Arrangement, Master Minusworld - Production, Guitars, Bass, Synths, Mix MegadudeXD - Drums Source Breakdown: (It's in minor key, OG is in major ) - All melody is in the lead synths 0:00 - 0:20 - Intro [ORIGINAL] 0:21 - 0:48 - A Section [0:12 - 0:24] 0:49 - 1:04 - Modified B Section Transition [0:25 - 0:39] 1:05 - 1:52 - B Section [0:25 - 0:39] 1:53 - 2:06 - Original reprise 2:07 - 2:43 - A Section [0:12 - 0:24] the title and music tells all Games & Sources Delfino Plaza - Super Mario Sunshine

I cut lots of parts and converted the really dynamic pieces into an AutoChip Pulse rythm. I will be making more. Enjoy! Source: DJ Sofad 0:06 to 4:56

for those that care, i put a slightly altered new version above. i made some very subtle changes based on critiques around the opening bass drones and a freq pop that kris called out. i also backed off the sidechain just a bit to balance it better, at least partially by lowering the volume of one of the arps in the higher-energy section.

haha, this is a really fun vibe right away. it's fast enough that the words are really hard to make out despite the processing and multiple takes, so that's not great, but the backing elements are super high energy. i can hear some of the vocal lines overlapping themselves. some of the slower sections (pleasure, adrenaline for example) has very bad prosody (that is, where the words land in the melodic line). i get that the melody's all over the place, but it's still important to have a song make sense when you sing it. i am also gonna say that i really don't care for the tone of your voice in this track. i've heard you sing in other tracks, i think, and i didn't find it to be nearly this grating. maybe it's the processing and style? or the octaves in most of the sections? but i found the tone of the vox in this track to be very pointed and tough to listen to. backing kick doesn't have nearly the amount of beef i'd expect for the feel, and the snare also feels pretty lackluster. the lead guitar sounds dope as expected, and the solo and synth work sounds great. from an arrangement perspective, this is a super fun take on the original two tracks. they're both very high-energy and this keeps that, and there's some neat dovetailing in how they fit together - i'd never have known that they weren't the same song without the original youtubes to listen to. i think the execution though is a little on autopilot - there's not a lot of changes to the backing elements throughout, the drums are super basic (every fill is just the same descending sixteenth toms), and like i mentioned before the prosody of the words in the slower sections is very unnatural. i think this might be the first time i've ever NO'd your work =( i think this is just really uneven right now. there's certainly some high points here but overall i don't think this one is ready for prime time. for a YES vote, i'd want to hear less repetition and mailed-in arrangement in the backing elements and drums, i'd probably want a rework of the lyrics and where they fall so that they're more fitting to the melody line, and i'd want to see/hear some attention to the vocal processing so that it's not so pointed. NO

opens with a big city beat and some similar synth swoops and string elements. the backing elements sound almost like they're just the original downtuned with the beat over top. in fact, they sound like that so much that i don't think there's any arrangement here at all. unfortunately i don't think this fits the Standards as a result - there's no transformative arrangement at all here. section 4.2. calls out this track's arrangement technique specifically as not being what we host here. it's a cool beat! but there'd need to be a lot done to make it fit as a result. NO

completely forgot about the C part of the original. i don't know if i ever spent enough time in a row in the game without getting into a fight to hear it, i guess. starts with clock sfx and some guitar elements alongside some schmears of synthy string color. 0:34 is where the band comes in and it's immediately reminiscent of american math rock like Plini. first break comes at 1:02 and there's a ton of space, which is fun given that it's the theme for a plain in the game. 1:33 is the first time getting to the B section from the original, and it's more of a broad feel than then more angular starting section. there's some ensemble stuff at 1:50 and then some of the wider rhythmic elements that are again Plini-adjacent right after at like 2:10. the C section right after this at 2:19 is pretty guitar-heavy, and it's hard to hear anything under the guitar sustains. this wasn't as noticeable before but here the combination of the crash and the rhythm guitars are really loud. 2:48 is a bit of setpiece that's a little out of place just because it's not really prepared super cleanly, and then 3:03 is the last big blow. this kind of soaring sustained strumming line is so iconic and sounds awesome in here. 3:32 is the outro, back to the clock rhythm pattern, and it's done. short and sweet. there's some times it's uneven in the mix, but overall the arrangement is solid and the lead parts shine through as expected. nice job. YES

TJ&E has such great soundtracks. fun beat right away, you can tell this is going to have a fun vibe. bass sounds awesome right away - 50-second bass opening? yes please! - and the beatbox stuff is great! what a fun idea. band sound comes in at 0:53. LT's right that it's a little messy on the mixing side right away - there's a ton going on and it gets a little tight as a result. joe sounds fantastic on the sax throughout this. vocals are hilarious. some great rhymes and well performed. more bass and groove at 2:48. there were a few times in here that this is just the slightest bit off time-wise and it's more obvious due to instrumentation. sax solo at 3:27 was excellent, and props for mastering it differently so it sticks out of the mix better than the parts from earlier. the wah effects are fun too. 4:45 is kind of just cruising - this almost sounded like it was missing a solo that got muted until the vocal parts came back in. after the vox parts, there's a bit of autopilot again and then it's done after a shout chord. i can hear joe's pads clacking at the end =P the track has a few parts that are just kind of cruising along and not really going anywhere near the end, but overall this is a gem. tons of character throughout and a really fun idea executed well. i agree it's a bit messy sometimes like what LT said but this is definitely over the bar. YES

super weird original. opens with some rich pads and a few percussive elements. the three-note motif is present right away. 0:31's beat is fun, and the following varieties of beats in the intro all have a fun, curious feel to them. the main body of the work starts at 0:54, as the melody's carried by deep tones and the drums kick in with all sorts of fun ideas. i particularly like the bass synth that keeps burbling up between some of the melodic ideas. 2:02's a break complete with vox samples and off-beat percussive elements, and that iconic Chimpa 'woo' sample that is always so unexpected. melody's back at 2:47 and there's some new long-lfo synths handling the melodic elements this time around. 3:32 is emu's outro and it's a big shift, but an interesting one. jumping off the high-energy train into a wall of half-formed jello is certainly one way to slow down. we get the three-note motif one last time and it's done. this is a fun blow from start to finish! and i agree with LT, the polish on this is superb. excellent work. YES

i'm going to proceed on the assumption that i'll reject this track, then 😄 opening is so instantly funky. boss 1 is so weird and this is a surprisingly approachable and tonal version of it. matt's guitar work is stunning - i love the constant motion, very mathrocky. the shift at 0:48 is well-timed to give a break after that first absolute banger of a solo. the rhythmic elements that come in at the end of this section are great also. i loved the interplay of the synth playing the lead at 1:40 and matt's guitar underneath it doing constant motion insanity. nice drum solo section! good tie back to the jazz roots underneath the complexity, and a great way to transition to the break at 3:19. there's a final blow through some of the chord progressions and then it's done. i wouldn't have minded a final chord to help tie it together, but this isn't bad. easy vote! this is a straight banger, with superb artistry shown in the three performers. excellent job conveying a really weird original in an approachable and consumable manner. YES