prophetik music

the piano tone is not amazing, but i didn't find it to be worse than others that we've passed in recent years. if anything, my complaint is that torby likes his sustain pedal a bit too much, which combined with the big blocks of fifths and octaves in his left hand results in some dense, muddy chord blocks. less velocity on those would have helped a lot, but it's not a dealbreaker. i think there's some level of quant on this also that makes it feel more robotic than it would otherwise have felt - again, i'd prefer it wasn't there, but i don't think it's a dealbreaker. i think the arrangement is competent if conservative, and survives the adaptation to a single instrument quite well. the mastering is clear, and reverb and room tone both aren't overdone. i'd have preferred a better, more responsive instrument used, but this is over the bar. YES

rose of may is one of the site's iconic remixes - it's hard to think of Protecting My Devotion outside of that framework. so, good luck! harp is recorded beautifully. it's hard to get the richness of a harp's lower end in most recordings. the performance is truly well-done as well. excellent technique on the upper range to keep them clear without being all attack. the underpinning strings are well-handled and beautifully balanced so as to support without overtaking the harp's sustain tones. the harp's arrangement initially is very straightforward, but the added flourishes and arpeggiation that fills in as the track goes on is great. some percussive elements come in that are very understated around 1:45, and the orchestral backing begins to build to 2:09's intro of Protecting My Devotion. i initially didn't realize the flute part was live - compared to the flute, the recording technique wasn't as clear, nor was the instrument as clearly mixed. the eventual transition from this part was not as smooth and clear as the transition into it. the vocal section is much more uneven. i agree with MW that the lyrics consistently don't sit well within the melodic content being used, although the singer's doing a great job making me want to ignore the words and just listen to their tone. you demonstrate beautiful vibrato on the sustained pitches throughout. there are some timing issues demonstrated - notably around 3:50 - both in defining where the pickup notes are in each measure, and in that the singer rushes a bit on many of the runs. there's also a distinct lack of consonants throughout, which makes the aforementioned timing issues more notable. to be clear - this section is really cool, sung with a nice tone, and has some neat orchestral ideas underneath. it just doesn't tie to any of the original tracks at all, and the pronunciation and poor lyric-writing put the singer in a tough position. the transition back to harp and orchestra is again clearly defined, but the time change and recap to a much more militaristic tone at 5:25 is a curious arrangement choice at best and ruins the mood from the first two sections at worst. the hoots in this part are louder than the first time around to the point of distraction, and out of place as a result. this is a straightforward adaptation of Protecting My Devotion for the last minute with little new material - it's not a copy/paste from before, but it's real close - and then it just sorta ends. i understand MW's uncertainty 100% here. this is a beautifully realized and arranged representation of Sword of Doubt and Protecting My Devotion...for three minutes. there's an unrelated vocal performance that's pretty to listen to and hard to understand or make sense of for about two minutes. and then there's a minute of a bog-standard realization of Protecting My Devotion that if anything drags the entire piece down for how bland it is compared to the rest of the work. i would yes the first three minutes in a heartbeat by themselves if the song ended right at the sustain at 3:05. i would maybe yes the first five or so minutes but be on the fence about it, as the track is still barely >50% source at that point despite the first 20 seconds being straight from the track, even if the choice of where to add the vocal parts was as it is now. this would be a difficult choice, though, as it doesn't really feel like transitioning to PMD at the end and doing nothing with it, combined with a mailed-in ending, actually brings the track down quite a bit. this is borderline, which is heart-wrenching because honestly the first two minutes especially are incredibly beautiful and poignantly handled. if the last minute had been less clumsily approached, this could have been an all-timer. as it is, this is over the bar, but helped mightily by the excellent handling of the harp and subtle, intense writing in the first minute or two. YES

i voted on the original one, calling out issues with synth selection, effecting, and some mastering bits. right off the bat, this sounds a lot better. the lead is nowhere near as grating, the electric guitar sounds better, and the mix is smoother. it's a little over-panned for me, but it fits when everything's going. the lead at 1:28 and 2:11 is still very bright and highly resonant, but it's not as harsh as before. i noticed the strings in the background more this time as well - i really liked that. 2:26 when the rhythm guitar kicks up is great. it really has a great driving feel without being too heavy. overall, i still think the resonant lead at 1:28/2:11 and the electric guitar lead are both too bright. they cut through the mix so clearly and are harsh to listen to. i would like to hear a filter put on those to bring down the top end of their freq range. i think that's a five-minute fix, though, so i am good with a conditional here. the rest of the mastering is nicely balanced, and the arrangement is still simple but enjoyable. CONDITIONAL

i like the space in the opening groove between the beat and synths - feels great right away. initial presentation of the melodic material is in the right ear a bit heavy, but sounds good. i agree with MW that the instrumentation and drums feel pretty bland. the half-time bridge at 1:22 sounds great, great timing. there's a circle-back with melodic content around 1:50, a fun solo at 2:05 with a ton of great pitch bend, and a quick recap and ending. quick package, a lot going on. elephant in the room - i didn't hear anything that was problematic harmony-wise. i think the main reason the highlighted section (1:15 or 1:18) is spicy-sounding is because neon x is using extended chords - probably at least adding in the 9 if not the 11 on those chords - to provide more of a framework to noodle on. that kind of chord usage is common in jazz but not at all in most edm, so it does come across a bit different. that said, the remixer does a great job navigating them, and they provide a lot of what i found interesting about this mix. fun arrangement, at least in the synths. the drums are a loop and pretty boring throughout, but there is a lot of fun ramen going on here within a limited scope. nice work. YES

love the opening synth. some really subtle stuff in the intro which is nice. the bass and pads come in at about 0:30 and they're really warm, i like that. phendrana drifts comes in at 0:44 and it's still very calm, continuing to add elements over time. there's a big cut at 1:15, and the vin comes in at 1:18 with a beautiful swell. there's a really neat organic vibe to this entire section, with the violin contrasted against the stutter synths and bass. 1:52 has a break of sorts, and phendrana comes back in on the piano at 2:11. there's indeed some repeated stuff in this section. violin's back in at 2:28, and it again is just mildly creepy with the glissandi next to the guitar in the background. there's a main theme cameo right at the end as the track spins down. there's some really neat sound design right at the end. this is great. it's just a touch quiet for my tastes, but there's so much quiet energy and atmosphere in this track which makes it perfect for a metroid remix. excellent job. YES

i am not overly familiar with the Oracle of Seasons soundtracks. some interesting ideas. the initial intro has a lot of verb and is pretty evocative. the beat at 0:19 is great-sounding, and there's some fun buzz in the synths that comes in once and a while - love the wider tone. first melody comes in at 0:38. immediately recognizable. there's a breakdown with lots of off-beats at 1:16, and i liked the variety this provided. there's a new lead at 1:35, and this leads through to a bell-led section at 1:56 that is a fun cameo. there's some interesting chord choices in here that aren't wrong but do sound a bit different, notably in the harmonies - there's a D# in the harmony part as part of a B7 chord, and that immediately goes to something with B and D (maybe Bmin), so the D# to D sounds weird. slick transition at 2:33 with the glide lead and the guitar-adjacent sustains in the background. there's a lot of verb on every instrument, and a few chord changes sound spicy due to sustains, but there's again nothing wrong here specifically. this groove goes through to about 3:30 and then it starts to tone down to the end. to address MW's thoughts: the first subtractive section at 1:16 didn't sound problematic to me. the brass blats actually reminded me a bit of the Pyre soundtrack. i didn't hear anything at 1:30. 1:38's timing syncopation i actually liked as it mixed up the groove a bit. the note you hear at 2:08 isn't wrong, but the chord change immediately after it is poorly handled. the chord at 2:59 is fully diminished (something that's used a ton in the Link's Awakening soundtrack, actually) and so the riff sounds tight but is fine. i really liked that transition there actually. at 3:28 the note you're hearing is the flat 7 of the chord (it's an A), and it is within the chord structure but again handled weirdly and not supported in the rest of the backing part. i think the track sounds good throughout, and the arrangement is fun. there's a bunch of choices i'd not have made in the harmony and chords (primarily sounds like the artist is using more pentatonic scales than traditional major/minor), but they aren't 'wrong' notes, just odd tonalities. i can understand someone voting no on this, but i think that what's here is acceptable. i'd certainly prefer some of those flat 7s and maj/min adjacent chords being cleaned up but this is over the bar. YES

very quiet initial presentation. agree the brass sounds not-great, and the tuba or euphonium, whatever it is, in particular was not very idiomatic in performance. the melody is clearly present. i found the percussion, specifically the mallets, to not sound great on the rolls but other than that liked the use. there's a continuing orchestral crescendo throughout 1:10 to probably 1:50, and some particularly nice articulation on the flute at 1:52. at this point the mallets have been on the melody throughout and are a bit played out. the march feel of the track is most notable after 2:00 and is appreciated. there's an extended outro with one more big swell and then it's done. from a technical perspective, there's a harp flourish at 1:41 that is heavily in the low end and causes the entire track to have a much lower max db than it should. compressing that a bit and adding some overall compression to the track would allow for removal of some 5db of headroom, allowing the nuances of the track to speak more clearly. lastly, i found the left ear's glock to be too loud throughout, but only by a little. overall this is a fine interpretation. there isn't anything transformative about the handling of the melody by itself, but the overall arrangement survives adaptation to the orchestra well. YES

mix starts off with some synth brass over the main theme, and transitions quickly to the initial presentation of the theme over some off-beat bass with a really buzzy lead. this goes through the main theme's A theme twice with minimal arrangement. it sounds really, really loud here - the lead and bass are so loud you can barely hear the drums at all, let alone anything else pitched. lot of sausage. there's a transition at 1:14 into the neo cortex melodic content, this is also just a lead and bass instrument, with essentially no pad or anything, and then kicks up into a faster section at 1:37 with the B theme from neo cortex, then back to the A theme. instrumentation and mastering issues from the first half are all the same here. then it...kinda just ends. this is a track that needs a lot of workshopping. there is little arrangement here outside of fairly smooth transitions between the two songs, and a bit of shifting around where each melodic bit happens in the song scope. there's just the melodic line, the bass, and the drums, and i can barely hear the drums - there needs to be some supporting pitched content that's audible, and there needs to be a huge mastering pass with the lead turned way down to allow anything else to be audible. if i turn this track down to 50% in my headphones, i hardly hear anything but the lead. nowhere near ready yet from what i hear. this needs a lot of attention. historically your other submissions have been solid, so i'm assuming this just needs some love which you are fully capable of providing, and then it'll be great. right now it's not there yet. NO

initial intro sounds nice. there's some fun bassy buzzes, the percussion initially sound fine, the synths are fine for what they're doing. i agree there's little arrangement going on, and that the mastering has that low-focused sound lacking highs that i associate with early 00s electronica. there's some new content in the last 15 seconds, but that's about it. the ending is pretty basic and sudden. the copypasta kills this one. there needs to be more arrangement here - the straight loop of the first minute or so doesn't cut it. play with the chords, add a breakdown without percussion, do some new synth work or add countermelodies...there's lots of options. right now this is too lacking in arrangement to meet the posting standards. NO

big powerful opening, very evocative. we start to get the initial groove around 0:54 and it reminds me of the dune mix we have on the site initially. it does sound very loud. the initial uber-funk groove at 1:20 is clipping like mad, but it sounds really fun! there's a ton of groove, i especially like the choral pad in the background. the energy backs off around 2:38 but continues to utilize space and silence really well to give it a hard funky feel. the muted brass around 3:00 is nice, a good timbre change. we get what feels like a recap at 3:22. the melodic content comes back a lot, it seems, and it's repeated right after in the brass in prep for a big drop-off at 4:23. the sudden percussion dropout makes it hard to catch the beat for a few seconds, and there's some big swells with an oud coming in to flesh it out. this builds into a big blow for the last minute and a half or so, around 5:00. it's definitely clipping like mad, and it still sounds legit awesome. tons of space in the synth groove, lots of interesting synth work. it does kind of end, but it's at least a good resolution there. i'm honestly torn on this one. it sounds super freaking awesome. and it clips like mad everywhere, but it honestly doesn't sound bad. there's presence in all frequency ranges, and the bass especially sounds really clean. i didn't have any issues with the sample and synth choices - there's clearly a lot of interplay between the synths and realistic-sounding samples, and i thought that interplay was really neat. i don't want to just reject it because i had to amplify it by -2.3db. ima call this a conditional. send us a version with the gain at -0.5 instead of +2 and i'm good. CONDITIONAL edit 6/14: emu's right, of course - my ear says it's fine, so who cares what the meter says. YUSS

some fun originals, lots of character there. initial presentation is thin-sounding and quiet, and starts with monochrome dreams. there's some fun schmearing in the vins and lots of melody passing between everything, but there's admittedly not a lot going on in the arrangement besides the oom-pah and the melody. the sound quality of these samples isn't great. at 1:07 the other original comes in, and this includes a significant time change and a lot more depth to the orchestration. there's a break at 1:50 and it comes back to monochrome dreams. this is mostly a recap of the initial section, not copy-paste but a lot of similar writing. at 2:57 we get a significant shift into a more aggressive feel, and it picks up old friends/old rivals in a slower, more intense scoring. this is the first real arrangement i've heard in the track and it's great! there's some meaty stuff with a (not great) men's choral pad used at 3:45, and a fairly standard ending. there are two main issues here. first is sample usage - while we don't expect everyone to have picture-perfect orchestral samples across the board, there's a lot here that doesn't sound great. some level of layering on the strings for example will flesh out the timbre so it doesn't sound so thin. more consistent verb across the board will also help to smooth out the tone. second is arrangement - 2/3rds of this is essentially the same as the original, done with roughly the same instruments, in the same style as the original, at around the same tempo. there's a ton of variety that you introduced in the last quarter of the track - use more of that! you've clearly got an ear for what can be done, now just get after it and make it yours, not the original composer's. i don't think this is ready yet. needs more workshopping. NO

the hit at 0:15 is delicious. the bass is so beefy there, i love it. i like the clicky xylo synth doing the descending arpeggio, that's a great way to keep it there but not have it as dominant as in the original. the wubs are wubbalicious as expected. there a big break leading into about 2:00 and it gets real silly there. it's so obvious you spent a ton of time on the bass work in this - it's hand-crafted audio couture, only the wubbliest of wubs selected by our freshershest wubblyfarmers. i actually really like the hats when they come in for each wubbreak especially. source is throughout, there's tons of creativity. the track sounds great. easy vote. YES

what a different original. never even heard of the game. visuals are just what i expected of the time period. intro is pretty but right-ear heavy. percussive elements are pretty loud compared to the orchestration. there's a nice swell to 1:03, which has a lot of low, sustained strings with long delays for most of the background parts. i'd suggest the slightest bit of space between the sustains when the chord changes so there's no overlap. the whistle at 1:39 is nice. it is still very thinly scored, which isn't a huge problem but as MW mentioned does make every instrument's realization critical - the plectral instruments at 1:56 are still very right-heavy which sounds weird. the orchestral percs through here though sound pretty good. there's a break and build into 2:42, and there's what seems like it should be the climax. the scoring here is still very simple, with lots of long sustains and not much that stands out in the background. 3:13 drops the percussion and has more of the sustains, with some very nicely handled whistle in a descant over the legato melodic violin parts. there's some harp to end it and that's a wrap. this one is interesting. i initially was turned off by the long sustains and very empty orchestration method, but realized it was more intended to be a cinematic / braveheart approach when the whistle came in. it works although i do think the orchestration is simple to a fault. i would very much have preferred a richer background with less layering and more uniqueness than stacks of sustained chord tones. as it is, though, the whistle playing is recorded and mastered well, and the track sounds like it could easily be used in a fan trailer for the game. YES

it's been nice to hear rebecca exploring more timbres than just chamber orchestra. there's a bunch of synths evident right from the beginning, and mixed with rebecca's usual delicate orchestral percussion especially sounds fun. there's a ton of execution jank though. she's clearly attempting to add space to her arrangement in echo of the original, which i like! but the low strings and oddly-loud piano are just so obviously artificial. similarly, the synth leads, which are a neat idea, just don't jive at all with the more dynamically nuanced strings behind them. i think the strings at 2:20 sound particularly fake (as well as that choral patch that gets used on every track lately), but i think the concepts you have on display there are probably the best arrangement you have in the entire track. it's just executed very poorly. the more tasteful synth work there, juxtaposed against the realistic percussion, is great. the strings and choir pad just kill it unfortunately. this felt pretty uneven. i agree with MW that i expect a lot more from rebecca normally. there's some really nice stuff in here, but the realism issues just stick out even more than usual. the silly headroom and lack of any compression seal the deal for me. this isn't there yet. NO

roughly 3db headroom, feels like more than that. big flourish to start. some interesting dissonances there. i can't tell if it's intentional or not but it's certainly gripping. the instruments here don't sound 100% great, too brassy and overblown. the initial driving feel is very similar to the original. original had some snare, brass doing the stabs, and some pizz strings alongside the melody. this has more snare, strings doing the stabs, and a lot more countermelodic movement. both do have similar instruments carrying the melody, but this has a ton more going on alongside that - the melody actually gets lost in a few places, i think. the bass parts (sounds like string bass pizz?) sound very non-idiomatic and behind the beat. the B section is also similarly done - same lead instrument, similar backing stabs, and this uses what sounds like orchestral pizz instead of the bongos. at 1:24 we get a new section based on the chords from the A section - lots of sustains and rising action. avoid the temptation to have every instrument always playing in here - there's a lot of doubled parts that i don't think need to be there. this section however is neat, but then it goes back to the A section's melody in the clarinet again (layered with choir) and the same countermelodic material as before (although some are in a lower octave). this is actually almost exactly the same as the first time through the A section. 2:28 features a B section that's orchestrated significantly differently, which is nice. after that, there's a bit orchestral crescendo to what's essentially an outro at 2:55 - a big sustained trill in the winds into the last part of the melody to finish it off. i don't know if the other judges will agree with me, but...i don't think there's enough arrangement here. we have tons of examples of remixes in similar styles as the original, so it's not just that both the original and remix are in an orchestral style. my issue is you've got the pretty much the same chords, with the same lead instrument playing the exact same melodic material with no differences, and a similar backing instrumentation AND similar percussion playing almost the same thing as the original backing instrument for the majority of the song. there is indeed additional countermelodic material added, but it's copypasted later in the song as well, and most of it mirrors what's in the original in different octaves. there is one major section outside of the ending that doesn't immediately map to the original, and that's the big sustain section from 1:24 to 1:52. i think the overall sound is good, although the brass often get too overblown. sounds like a limitation of the sample pack you're using - i'd consider turning the velocity on every single instrument down by ~25% so that it's not all the super-bright overblown sound in the brass. beyond that, i think trimming down some of the part doubling will help with where it's just layers of sound that aren't needed. this isn't it for me. i don't hear transformative arrangement. the parts that stand out to me are the ending, 2:28, and 1:24 - where you really go above and beyond to make something unique from the original. even just choosing a different lead instrument for the A and B sections so it's not mirrored directly from the original would make a big difference. right now i feel it's just too close to the original. NO

starts off with flute, some strummed guitar, and bass, and then kicks off a bigger band vibe. intro sounds a bit rough - flute is fakey despite the articulation attention paid, guitar is quiet enough that it's hard to hear. full band sound features a really fake sounding bass and straightforward drums that regularly use a kick fill that is fast enough that it's obviously a robot and not a person. there's a break at 0:48 for a bit, and then it drops way off at 1:04. it wanders around for a bit on the melodic concepts and comes back to the original at 1:48 - some very different experimentation in there, a lot of time devoted to it for such a short piece. there's some more exploration of the melody in the lead guitar and then an EP, and then it repeats a bit as an outro. i think this needs workshopping. the instrument quality is rough, and that can be managed with more attention - some quant and more creative drums will help the percussion a lot, as well as getting rid of the EDM-style kick fill. the bass needs to do anything other than repeated octaves for the entire song, since it's getting a machine-gun effect right now. i think there is a lot of interesting stuff you're doing with the arrangement, but i wouldn't mind not hearing the same 8-bar melody played the same so many times - either mix up chords or add some grace notes, spacing, etc so it doesn't sound like you're copy-pasting the midi data from part to part. lastly, you commit a lot of time to the exploratory section in the middle, and i tbh couldn't really tie much of it to the original. that's fine if what it's saying sounds good, but it just sounded odd to my ears. either prepare your noodles better so they fit the meal better, or consider reducing the duration of that section while adding meat elsewhere. NO

this has a really chill intro with some fun fretless bass and percussion. the piano and synth echo the Born To Do This opening pretty clearly, and the taiko and chimes are regularly used in both Scape and BTDT. the lead at 0:47 carries the melodic content from BTDT clearly, and the guitar at 1:19 sounds great taking the lead. this continues to build layers towards 2:00 - i love the squiggly synth work in there. 2:25 has a tempo change and some fun sfx and the intro of Scape's melodic content. there's a lot going on here - several unique side-by-side leads with lots of attention paid to automation, releases, and some fills. this is just so fun in here - i love the energy, it's got a real Styx vibe. there's a natural break around 3:35 for a bit, and some more ensemble call and response through around 4:17 into a solo section. i appreciate the ongoing ensemble work through the solo, keeping it fresh - it'd have been easy to just check out and comp the chords, and i love that that's not what you did here. ensemble's back in at 5:13 with a huge recap of the BTDT theme with big walls of sound. super exciting fanfare, and then it drops off to just what sounds like a dulcimer and trumpet. there's an ensemble blow to cap it off and a great strong ending, complete with fireworks. what a track. there's a ton of melodic content throughout and it's dressed for the party the entire time - never a dull moment. the mastering is great, especially considering how many different things are going on simultaneously. i love your synth choices throughout, and the attention paid to them. get this on the site! YES

some simple sfx and heavily filtered pads start this track out. the melodic content starts at 0:26, and the stylistic changes are apparent especially at 0:38. the beat hits at 0:51, and the original is mostly here in a different instrument with bass/set under it. there's a break at 1:17 in the beat, but the arpeggio from the original continues through here, with some interesting synth voice stuff. there's...another break? at about 1:43 that's just piano with no verb on it, and that builds back up with the kick coming back in at 1:55. the rest of the kit comes in at 2:08, and it's still the original arpeggio as it was in the original, with nothing new added, and it's like the tenth time i've heard it. there's another break with the synth vox at 2:33 or so, and that leads back to a recap at 2:59. this is mostly the same as the initial hit at 0:51 with some minimal changes in the hats and bass a few times. it goes through this a few times and then fades. from a production standpoint, i think the mastering mostly sounds fine. the kick and bass are appropriately beefy, the hats sound spot-on, and the snare is great and crisp. i found the initial presentation of the synths chosen to be fine as well, and i liked the synth voice and some of the sweepy pads (although i wish they were used more). for a track that's almost 3:45, though, there's nowhere near enough depth of choice here. the same few instruments keep coming back for more on what's essentially a 15-20 second loop. it got very old very quick, easily by the 2 minute mark. this was exacerbated by the total lack of arrangement outside that original. there's room for new chord structures, new countermelodic material, something carrying the melody other than the same arpeggio repeatedly. the arrangement here is sorely lacking, as it's essentially the original realized a few different ways with a (good sounding) loop under it. i don't think the track sounds bad, but it doesn't meet the criteria for arrangement on this site unfortunately. NO

never heard this one, but it's fun. intro is suitably exciting - i like the build and drum fill especially. there's a good head-bobbing feel to the intro with the beat and arpeggio. the first melodic part comes in at 0:39 and builds into the 'chorus' theme at around 0:55. the break at 1:18 is well-timed and i like the chord changes there. the intro of the electric guitar at 1:38 or so and the later addition of organ was a great way to mix up the recap of the 'chorus' part although it's clear that the basic structure there is the same. there's a vibe break and some fun pads and sound design around 2:10. i like dropping the drums and letting some of your more interesting synth choices carry this section. 2:51 sees the beat come back in and drive through to the end with (finally!!) the electric guitar carrying the melody. this is an easy vote. it sounds great, there's a ton of meaty percussion that does a great job carrying the beat, the synth and lead choices are excellent, and the changes from the original like the chord changes and the structural shifts are not hugely transformative but are enough for me to call this a unique piece and not a cover. nice work. YES

really interesting sound design at the beginning. sounds like it's in 7/4 or 7/8 for most of the first few minutes, darksim, depending on what you call a quarter. i personally like that it's more 2-2-2-1 than 2-2-3 or the other tired 7-forms we usually get. there's lots of additive stuff going on in the first few minutes, and it sounds great, grungy in all the right places. i love the build at 1:55 and the subsequent change at 2:02 with the organish pad swelling under it - so good. the bell started to feel a bit old here (maybe using a real bell sample instead of pitching the one you used up and down) but the entire 'chorus' is meaty and sounds good. there's a long atempo break and then a significant stylistic shift at 3:16 to something that sounds extremely 90s PC. i didn't care for this at all. when it gets more fleshed out, around 4:18, it's still driving the Sound Blaster vibe, but it feels less empty. the keys at 4:50 were a nice touch. there's some more layering at 5:20 or so with the choral pad, which really keeps the vibe in that same late 90s PC world, and that moves into another break at 5:49. 6:17 brings back the intro style and beat, and features some fun static percussive elements. there's a drop and extended build to the final blow, and then an outro. this is a really nice job overall. you really stuck with the 90s vibe throughout, and even if it's a bit long in some places and has repetitive ideas in some others, i think as a whole it's a great product. nice work. YES

always amazed me what the ps1 was able to do sound-wise. original is so impressive. right away the influence of the updated time signature is clear. several of the tracks in CC's soundtrack work as 4/4 ballads, and this one is no different. the instrument quality however is really all over. the bass sounds fine for this style, but the drums really sound weak, especially the kick, and the lead plectral instrument sounds like a casio toy i had in the 90s. i like what it's saying, but it doesn't sound good. there's a filtro section at 0:31 or so, and that continues through the melodic content in a linear fashion albeit with added flourishes throughout. the filter lifts at 1:07 with a new lead instrument, and the backing pads being a little more present. 1:55 is again filtered at least in the drums, and is even more adjacent to the original than earlier in the track. there's an outro that goes through the first part of the original starting at 2:37, and that's the end. i'm pretty torn about this one, honestly. i think the arrangement is actually pretty minimal - you've got similar instrumentation to the original (plectral lead, string pads, active bass, although added drums which are quite straightforward), many of the same ornamentations in the bass and backing parts, and while the time signature's changed, there's no adjustment to the form or the order of the melody, just ornamentations (which are admittedly nice). so i don't think this really is a transformative arrangement, but more of a cover than it first appears. beyond that, it's not like the instrumentation lifts it either - the instruments chosen sound weak (drums), unrealistic (plectral lead), or basic and played in a non-idiomatic fashion (the muted piano that's throughout the middle with the super-fast grace notes). i don't think anything stands out, and i don't think this is a sum-of-its-parts thing either. i think this needs workshopping - countermelodic additions, improvement of the sound quality for at least the drums and the first lead (maybe replacement), and better writing for the drums at least. i think the time signature change is inspired - now let's get the rest of the track dressed up too. NO

the layering of synth and violin in the lead is neat. there's some grit on the piano that's nice too. 0:27 brings in the 'melody', if you call it that, and there's not a lot there that's not in the original. there's some sfx added at 0:57, which is suitably creepy/atonal, but it's not really adding arrangement. similarly, the block synth chords are cool, and i like their increasing intensity, but they don't constitute arrangement. the violin pads echoing the melodic content at 1:32 are also a nice idea, but they aren't saying anything that isn't already there. the resonant synths around this part are pretty cool though and make the atmosphere much more intense. that goes away quickly though and it just ends. i'm with MW. there's some neat ideas but a lot more fleshing out is needed before this is enough for the front page. NO

original is indeed highly repetitive. i'm picking out the bass lead's progressive elements alongside the chord movement as the big things to take away from it from an arrangement perspective. the entire opening is clearly drawn from the original - the stutter synths doing the alarm motif are immediately recognizable. the beat kicks in at 0:45 and features the bass synth's line from the original as the primary melodic content, following the overall same line as the original. as of 1:29 we've gotten through the melodic line once, and there's some neat guitar and sax-adjacent synth doing stuff. this is still the main chord pattern but doesn't really feature specific melodic content that was obvious. at 2:14 the melody comes back and is doubled by a stringed instrument. there's not a lot different this second time through, but the addition of the violin and some mastering changes like the filter mix it up a bit. at 2:57 we get our first break (i was def getting tired of the balls-to-the-wall sound so this is good). i think this is the shinagawa pier chords, arpeggiated out and distorted similar to how the backing at that point in the original is. the vox samples are back here too (assuming they're from the game?) and there's a filtro build into 3:40 when it's back at the same beat with the arpeggiated chords and a choir synth that is also reminiscent of the end of tennozu and the shinagawa pier section. there's a great intensifying saw synth around 4:15 that i liked a lot. this builds into another filtro transition into The Break at 4:25. the melodic content gets pixelated as part of the chopping which is fun - i almost wish there was more of that, since it was a great break from the same concept that has been going on for a while. there's some drum fills and a lighter section at 5:10 that again features the stuttered alarm synth from the opening of both the original and this remix. instruments continue to drop as it gets to the final drop and ending at 5:52. some interesting distorted effects after the last hit which was a nice touch. this is mastered real loud! it's a bit tiring to listen to, but it doesn't ever sound bad, just really pumped. there's a lot of distorted elements though and they're all clearly audible so great job with leveling and balancing, especially the clean electric guitar when it's playing. i don't think this is too repetitive, although it's fairly close. the source doesn't do it many favors. the strength of this track isn't necessarily that it keeps it fresh, but that the basic idea is great and it does enough to keep that interesting throughout six minutes. it probably could have dropped a minute and i wouldn't have minded, but the energy and production really sparkle, and the remixer did a nice job keeping it moving from section to section. nice work. YES

i can't say this is my favorite original track the game looks pretty neat for a one-person game though. right off the bat, the increased pace is obvious. the initial lead with melodic content is surprisingly similar to the original, interestingly enough. the little bit of glide you gave it it makes it more enjoyable to listen to, though. there's some rising tension to the kick and bass entering at 0:54. it's very boomy here - a huge peak at ~70hz is driving it sounding so dense - and the snare is quiet and the hats quieter. there's a dropoff at 1:22 and short break, and then it's back with copy-pasta from 0:54 for a bit. the snare cuts out at one point, and then it's just basses and lead at 2:07 with some nice pad sustain lightly in the background. the snare and some countermelodic material from the original shows up at 2:30, and there's a drop and outro at 2:58 to the end. overall a very conservative arrangement. overall i don't think there's enough arrangement to consider this. there's actually less going on in the remix than there is in the original - you've got very straightforward drums throughout, a single bass synth doing a rhythmic thing, a light pad, and the melody. there's a small amount of countermelodic material cribbed directly from the original and that's essentially the only thing that's distinctly playing individual notes throughout. there needs to be a lot more to make this original besides just speeding it up and adding more kick. i think it could also use a bit of cleaning up between the kick and bass instrument to prevent it from being so bass-heavy when both the bass and kick are playing. NO

i voted on this last time. looks like my main critiques were around the middle section. other judges complained also about mastering and the choice of a fadeout ending. the opening of this track is such a fun toe-tapping feel, and the melody at 0:30 is real fun. at roughly 1:02 we get to the area MW where originally complained about the bass response, and that sounds cleaner if not fully fixed (still some mess in there from verb sustains, i think). 1:19 still has straight-up wrong notes - it sounds like a Cm chord is being played, and there's a stuttered string harmony in the background playing an A natural (among other very strange non-chord tones). that synth riff consistently interferes with the stuff from Gallery and it doesn't sound quirky, it just sounds wrong, even with the chromaticism that's throughout that section. there is syncopation in the brass in the background at 2:14 that is audibly confusing and took me a few listens to identify why it sounded like the song hitched there. you may want to consider removing the syncopation or having the percussion play there so it doesn't sound like the track skipped. the snare still isn't very audible. the mix sounds very dense in the lower mids especially around 1:30 - in fact, just looking at that area, there's both a weird rise in sub-20hz content there as well as a huge amount of density in the 100-200hz range. taking your countermelody synth (that's playing the 16th-note runs) and putting it up an octave might actually allay a lot of that, as would reducing some of the amount of verb on backing instruments, especially the bass synth. the ending is a lot better than the fadeout though and i like that it's a set ending. i don't think this is there yet. there's a bunch of changes which i appreciate a lot! the middle section for me just doesn't sound good yet - the A next to that Cm chord is grating, and it happens a bunch. it's also super dense for most of 1:19 through 1:45 and needs room to breathe. NO