prophetik music   Judges ⚖️

the waveform diff overall on this one is drastic. also LT this wasn't samples from the original, it's just a very similar synth that was used. starts out with some ambience (assuming this is the sampled element?) and some accelerating piano over time. the piano sounds intentionally filtered. the arp's in the piano, and the lead is a similar tone to the original. the kick starts as a more muted version and then has another kick with more beater added in later. the lead is 1:1 from the original. when the rest of the beat comes in at 1:18, it sounds to me like the track is currently the ongoing ambience, the beat, piano playing some chords and the arp, and the lead. that's pretty sparse compared to the complexity of the original. there's a break at 2:12 with no kick for a bit, but it's back within 15 seconds and we get the B theme for a bit. there's a stutter synth here that i didn't notice before, and that's a nice change. at 2:55 the beat's done for the piece (another 1.5 minutes!). the lead synth appears to truck through the rest of the melodic material in order with the piano under it, and then finish on some more ambient swells. from an arrangement perspective, i like the idea of giving the main body of the melody some more rhythm in the form of percussion. beyond that, there's not much here that isn't lena raine. we need more arrangement than this. section 4.2 in our standards talks about significant arrangement - another word that's used a lot is transformative. this doesn't have that, so it's a nonstarter right there. frim a mixing perspective, the kick is wildly louder than anything else in the track, it's not even close. the spectrum analysis shows a solid wall from 35-60hz, no cutoff below that and nothing close to it above it - that's too much. beyond that, the entire mix feels very muted and quiet due to not having any headroom from the kicks. likely this was mixed on low-bass-response headphones and that's why there's such a crazy difference there - this desperately needs another pass at mixing it on something with accurate response and then subsequently needs some compression to balance it. beyond that, sidechaining at least the ambience and the backing elements under the kick a bit would help with the pressure as well. i'd suggest really committing to the arrangement first. make something that's distinctly Metris's take on lena's work rather than just taking her work and adding pads behind it. change up the melody a bit, play with chords, update and add new textures that are critical to the work and not window dressing, change the tempo, etc. and then come back and get the workshop's view on it to see how it's going. right now this isn't passable. NO

track has >5db of headroom and little dynamic contrast at first glance. would need a new name if it passes as well. at first glance, this appears to be a palette swap. the notes appear to be pretty close to 1:1 outside of no drums. the synthesis concepts are interesting, but i'll note that the choices actually are a net negative overall for the work - the lead's quieter than the arpeggiating synth since the arp is so much brighter than the lead, as opposed to the opposite in the original, and the long release pads mean that there's some overlap on faster chord progressions. it also has no ending - it starts to fade out, but doesn't quite before it just stops. this is not enough arrangement for our site, unfortunately. i think there's a real place for something with interesting juno-type synthesis here, but per 4.2 of our standards we need transformative arrangement. this is a cover and we don't take those unfortunately. NO

is the name a reference to the track's waveform? really loud right off the bat. beat is pretty huge, bass peaks a bit high but it's big. there's some synth guitar chugs right away that are pretty obviously not guitar, but they are appropriately meaty. 0:40 is a bit of a break with some sfx. the beat drops at 1:14 for the B theme, and it picks back up at 1:29 with another rhythmic synth over the beat. there's a bass section at 1:46 and it builds up to the A theme soon after. the track goes through the initial riff a few more times with fewer instruments and then it's done. this track sounds blown out, like mega over the top blown out. the waveform is visibly deformed in several places because it's so loud. it clips constantly through the loudest sections, for example at 0:15-0:30 the chugs are audibly distorted most of the time. i believe at least part of this is due to the bass synth, kick, and chugs all being in the same area (among other instrument groups). so that's something that needs to be addressed. i think the arrangement itself is fine overall - there's a variety of synths being used, the track has a nice shape, and it does some fun stuff as it gets bigger and smaller over time. i think the ending is a downer and could be fleshed out more, but it also sounds like you ran out of ideas around maybe 1:50 or so and so just needed to get over the finish line. i think this definitely is a track that can be on the site someday. some cleaner mastering would do wonders. NO

i can definitely see the PT influence right away on this one. i just played the game so the theme is very familiar to me as well. switching from the faster, more urgent verse to the broad half-time chorus is straight off of every single PT album, especially when layered with the strings in the transition back to the verse. great job getting the style down. i like the intensity at 1:30 switching the acoustic guitar riff to electric. 2:30 is the start of the moon theme - i admit i was wondering how you'd work this in, but this is probably the best way to make it work. there's a heavy emphasis on effecting voices here, and while i can't make out what's being said, someone else may be able to. this doesn't overstay its welcome in the scope of the overall work so i'm good with such a disjointed sfx break. 3:47 is the leshy theme. vocals are a bit more exposed here due to the range, but i can definitely hear your influences here as well. i liked the way that you played with time a few times here to keep it not quite what you expect. the anesthetize reference at 5:14 is great, and within the scope of a 7+ minute work i don't mind some development that's original at all. 6:17 is a much more (initially) straightforward blow through the leshy theme again. the vocal lines and harmonies here are great, your voice sounds the best in the track here. it's shorter than i'd have expected for this section. 7:17 is kind of where the track hits the outro, and it's done quickly after that. even a bigger fill going into the final hit would have been great. also i'd love to have heard the djentier version to be honest! this track kinda doesn't have enough gristle to really fit the cabin's gameplay. this is, of course, great. the mixing is fantastic throughout - you could say that the vocals are a bit quiet in spots, but this is very fitting the style of the influencing tracks so i think it works great. i think the lyrics work well and don't sound too contrived. the themes from the game are interwoven throughout as well. excellent job. YES

opens with acoustic and vocals. there's a bit of pitchiness but the vibrato on the first sustain is beautiful. drums and pads come in at 0:15 and it's kind of a lower vibe here. it builds into 0:33 where the vocals come in for the first time. vocals are obviously low but sound great. guitars are a bit loud here compared to the female vocals when they're lower (before 1:00). the drums under the refrain were a little too complex for what's going on over them in my opinion. the lyrics didn't flow very well on the last line of the refrain either. vent's entry is as expected. there's some pitchiness (chill, through, stings, re in remind). there are some oddly pronounced words as well (through). that said, as usual cyril's tone is super dope (the first two lines are very nice). the unison that comes after this was a bit rough - i only can hear cyril most of it, but there's more pitchiness in here too. unisons are the hardest interval to tune so that's not unexpected. there's a bit of a break right after it with some great bass work, and it builds up into a solo section. there's a few funky notes in here but overall it's a fun solo that has a great shape. there's another unison section that's better balanced and tuned after this. it would have been really nice to hear this section harmonized rather than unison, but the execution's fine. the last two lines of the combined section before the refrain (and the demons/but they wither) are probably my favorite part of the track. the track ends suddenly after the unison refrain. overall i think this is probably over the bar. i think that there's some execution missteps on the lyrics and vocal recordings, but the band sound overall is great and the track overall has some great highs and a good shape. when the track works, it works really well. YES

very short remix. i agree that the keys overall sit on the front of the beat and so feel a bit not quite right. i think the verby...shaker? maybe? sounds kind of weird too next to the very dry drums and fairly dry piano. i also agree that the tone is overcompressed overall (feels really blown out tbh) and the drums are super loud compared to everything else. the overall soundscape is very spare - it's piano, shaker, drums, and a very minimal bass, and some sfx - and as a result the mechanical-sounding piano's doing a lot of lifting. the ending is imo worse than a solid cutoff - it's very obvious the shaker's a loop with how it's handled and separately there's no preparation or arrival point. i find the piano's ideas to be pretty fun! i like the use of sfx here as well, i think it fits in well. i like the very minimal bass usage. however, when a track is both short and lacking in variety of instruments, each of those instruments needs to absolutely nail it. the drums are overly loud and under-effected especially for the genre - it's hard to call something lofi hiphop when it's both very clean and lacking in filters, and also doesn't ever lean on hiphop tropes for the drum sequencing. the piano, as mentioned before, is on the very front of the beat all the time and so feels like it's rushing (delay your entire piano part by a ms or two and it'll magically fall into the pocket). the shaker's super wet and it doesn't fit at all next to the semidry piano and very dry drums. and, overall, it's heavily compressed, which would work if there was more pad work going on or some other elements to flesh out the harmonic backing, but right now just emphasizes the wrong stuff too much. in general, i've found LXE's remixes to be undercooked. they tend to have very creative ideas in a few things, and everything else is just autopilot to fill in behind that. they're loop heavy and often have no endings. they tend to be very short. this is more of the same. it sounds fine as-is. but at just over two minutes, every part needs to be sparklingly perfect. this isn't there yet. NO

this is an exciting matchup of composer and remixer. starts off with some smooth bass and lead work. actual drums come in at 0:27. there's some really delicate plucks going on here that i really liked. beat drops at 0:55 and there's a slow build back up with some funky chords to mix it up in there. doubletime beat at 1:22 feels really good under the more disparate melodic elements in this section. the track trucks through more Aurora Magnitude with some really fun synth work to a second break at 2:17. this break serves as a nice shout chorus to transition to the second interlude of Thicket Prism, and also to transition back down from doubletime to the original tempo. 3:27 was really nice. 3:33 was the last big hit, and we get some more plectral bells over the AM chords before it's done. looking at the overall mixing, as expected there's a lot of detail work that's highlighted throughout. i did notice that there's a lot of body in the low mid range, like around 100hz, for most of the track. this doesn't make it feel cluttered but it is certainly more dense than i'd have expected from some other tracks by timaeus. this is an obvious pass to me. the two tracks mix together very well and the realization here is excellent. it's an enjoyable listen that doesn't do the mind-bending chord stuff that truong often does but still delivers on a high-quality product. excellent work. YES

some sfx to start. the Wish You Were Here riff fits into Balamb Garden really well, that's a clever dovetail. there's some voiceover that's fine for an extended section quoting the game which reminds me why i haven't played the game in 20 years, under which is some fun guitar work (i like the 12-string the most). the overall texture picks up a lot at 2:04 with some excellent lead guitar playing. there's an extended section from about 2:39 through 3:15 that's going through the descending B theme with some soloing over the top. the section at 3:15 wasn't familiar to my ears. there's a bigger section at 4:08 that's got some more buzz in the rhythm parts and some more virtuosic guitar playing, and the final return of the melodic material doubled with a synth lead. coming out of this big section, there's the WYWH riff again and some sustained pads going through the opening guitar elements before some sfx to end it. this is a great concept and it works really well. i appreciate the patience to really get into the solo section and to let the original with its disparate parts each have their time to do their thing. i think aping Pink Floyd's style works out great and the track doesn't rely too heavily on that concept to carry the idea. nice work. YES

bruh. initial synth hits and subsequent bass and beat are exactly what i expected. lead's got some nice distortion effects on it, it's definitely a grittier vibe to synthwave than we've heard recently. transition at 0:40 is a choice. the track kind of noodles a bit after that - i think the inconsistent beat and bass work is why, it just felt very disjointed for a while. there's a break at 1:09 where it's just pads and the really broad, buzzy lead for a bit. it cuts suddenly to the above image with a heavily detuned and filtered section from another game for a while before it suddenly pops back into the main material again at 2:06. the detuning next to the not-detuned stuff sounds pretty mind-bending for a minute and there's some other grunginess in there somewhere in another synth that's got some oddly tuned stuff going on. it trucks through the B section of the melody before a quick recap of A and then it's done quite suddenly. i need to admit i really, really don't like the middle of the song at all. synthwave is all about the constant motion and consistent driving vibe, and the section from 0:41 through 1:09 doesn't really have that at all. it feels like a bunch of disparate ideas are stuck together. the following break loses a lot of energy and is very short, and then suddenly is into the tape section which i really just don't get all. separate from the concept being really out there, it's uncomfortable to listen to something that's so detuned and only in one ear when there's an abrupt transition to it and from it. i'm running into an issue where i don't think these sections are viable but i don't see a specific element of the standards that they're violating. so i'm going to let the other judges vote first and i'll come back to this after some more thought. ??? edit 1/26: at its core, the middle section doesn't belong here. it's objectively an ill-fitting concept that's executed fine but really doesn't go with the rest. if this wasn't Hudak i'd probably already have rejected it just due to how left-field it is. the artist shouldn't matter here. So that's a NO from me as a result.

bit of a shuffle to start. the twilight theme shows right off the bat. the bass is really caged up and has a unique tone to it. there's a ton of wet sfx going on which is nice for the vibe. there's more traditional harmonic leading than i'd have expected at about 1:15, but it works fine. there's a break at 1:37 for a bit and then we're into a short recap at 1:59. there's a lot of outro material as the melodic material slowly drifts off into the aether, and it's done. this is short and sweet. mastering is definitely lush, very appropriate for the track. nice job. YES

For years, I've been meaning to arrange something from Globulous, but I had never really gone through with it, not because the songs were iconic---actually it was because they are so hard to do justice! After watching a ton of Charles Cornell on YouTube about harmony and chord progressions (who is incredibly talented at jazz theory and analysis by the way), I finally just decided to make a ReMix combining Aurora Magnitude and Thicket Prism. Generally if I were to arrange something, I tend to keep the melody and change the chords around it, but in this case the Aurora Magnitude melody is so particular that I stayed mostly faithful with the implied chord progressions, while the rhythms of the melody and bass were changed instead. Later on when I added Thicket Prism in here, it kind of just happened---I didn't expect it to work so well, but it was something I could only see in the moment. Some notable key players in the ReMix are the bass (Shreddage 3 Precision), bell arps (Zebra2 + Drops of Copper from Omnisphere), piano (PEARL Concert Grand), and plucky lead (Modern Harpejji), with most of the other instruments from Zebra2. Overall, I didn't plan on blowing away the OST as far as sound design or layering goes, but the partwriting and harmonic clarity are definitely some of my personal best. I'm really happy with how this went and I hope you enjoy too! :-) - Timaeus --- Extra Info: The inspiration for the title was to imitate the style from Globulous - natural phenomenon/object + math term. In this case it is a real term that means 'intentional out-of-body experience', but also matches the naming scheme. Source Breakdown: 0:00.00 - 0:54.91 (Intro) = 0:00.00 - 0:53.01 (Aurora Magnitude, some rhythmic changes) 1:08.59 - 1:22.32 (Interlude) = 1:19.48 - 1:32.73 (Aurora Magnitude melody snippets) 1:22.32 - 1:49.76 (Verse) = 1:32.73 - 2:25.70 (Aurora Magnitude) 1:49.76 - 2:17.21 (Bridge) = 2:25.70 - 2:52.25 (Aurora Magnitude) 2:17.21 - 2:24.04 (Breakdown Section) = 2:52.25 - 2:58.69 (Aurora Magnitude Ending) 2:24.04 - 2:51.48 (Breakdown Section) = 1:56.76 - 2:09.91 (Thicket Prism Bass) 2:51.48 - 3:05.19 (Interlude 2) = 2:09.91 - 2:23.07 (Thicket Prism Santoor) 3:05.19 - 3:32.64 (Climax) = 1:19.48 - 1:32.73 (Aurora Magnitude melody) + 2:09.91 - 2:23.07 (Thicket Prism Santoor) 3:32.64 - 3:53.89 (Outtro) = 2:52.25 - 2:58.69 (Aurora Magnitude Ending) 54.91 + 13.73 + 27.44 + 27.45 + 6.83 + 27.45 + 21.25 = 179.06/235.05 = 76.18% Aurora Magnitude 27.44 + 13.71 + 27.14 = 68.29/235.05 = 29.05% Thicket Prism Games & Sources Game: Globulous Composer: Andrew Aversa Source Tunes: Aurora Magnitude - Thicket Prism -

Way back in 2010, I submitted my very first remix to OCremix, which was a remix of this very track. It did not make it to the judges panel, but that means that this is technically a resubmission! The Skitchin soundtrack is incredible and it's a shame that OCremix doesn't have an remixes from that game. (Yet!) Games & Sources Game: Skitchin for the Sega Genesis Original Soundtrack Link:

I went through a spell of arranging and remixing VGM as an exercise in new production techniques and experimenting with new sounds. I was really into sounds from the Juno-60 which I felt meshed well with this song. The track is equal parts whimsical and sort of dystopian which fits well with the sci-fi sounds of the Juno. This song understandably gets a lot of love and the arrangement itself is pretty faithful to the original. My goal was to retain the vibe with more "modern" (but distinctly 80s) instrumentation. Artist: breadbarn Games & Sources Super Mario RPG: The Legend of the Seven Stars (SNES, 1996) Composer: Yoko Shimomura Original song:

Track credits: * jnWake - keys, synths * Shea's Violin - cello in Part 3 * minusworld - arrangement, production, guitars, bass, vocals, VST programming Notes First off, a note about Inscryption: If there’s a chance you will play this game, I recommend NOT LOOKING UP ANYTHING, even the OST. The track, lyrics, and links below reveal little about the game’s plot by design. Song links are to specific songs, not the whole OST. This was my entry to DoD's Horror Month, where to my surprise it won gold! I wasn’t initially planning to enter Horror Month because I rarely play horror games. I’m also nearly one year into dadhood, so entering DoD requires an arrangement to jump out at me because I don’t have time to struggle through an arrangement. But I scanned through my game library anyway and realized I played Inscryption which totally counts as horror. Inscryption’s music is very atmospheric, so I still wasn’t sure if I was going to enter, but at least I had a game. While tempting to do atmospheric/ambient for Horror Month, I generally like to arrange songs -- something with hooks and a chance of sticking in listener's memories. This usually means melody, followable song structure, etc. I asked myself “what songs have a creepyish vibe to them?” and Porcupine Tree came to mind. Inscryption music features an acoustic guitar prominently, and Fear of a Blank Planet begins with an AG riff and… the first part of the arrangement jumped out at me. I didn’t want to do a 1-to-1 mashup with Fear of a Blank Planet, but I did want to capture the vibe. I have the unfortunate curse of knowing exactly where all of my inspiration comes from, which often makes me feel like I’m just copying other people… but if you blend it all up it sounds fresh, right? …Right? Here's the list, if you find it interesting. Part 1: Fear of a Blank Planet by Porcupine Tree Part 2: Hamburger Lady by Throbbing Gristle Part 3: Sorceress by Opeth, Anesthetize by Porcupine Tree, Compendium by Elder Part 4: Inmazes by VOLA. (The original thing I wrote here was much djent-ier, but I didn’t like it and toned it back.) I am the singer on this. I'm not a great singer, nor do I like to sing, but I think my voice is able to fit the "wilting" vibe. Hopefully it's not too distracting! Lyrics The lyrics are original. The public premise of the game, to quote videogamedunkey, is a deckbuilder “you play in a dark cabin with a serial killer.” I didn’t want to write lyrics about the game in order to avoid spoilers, so I did the very (un)original thing of writing about being metaphorically trapped… by yourself. Ultimately the lyrics combine my own reflections on struggling to do things that are good for me (sleep, exercise, therapy) with indirect imagery from the game in a hopefully cohesive way. An example: “Here they come again and again” - Imagery of enemy cards coming down the lane “Your sins find you again and again” - Why is it so hard to fit in a simple 30 minute walk each day? “Your choices wound again and again” - Imagery of… well if you’ve played the game, you know. Verse moonlight creeping through the haze sunlight haven’t seen in days lamplight flashing in their eyes s’alright i’m prob’bly gonna die nightmare not asleep, awake despair feel my body shake elsewhere no one looks for me my prayer divine absentee Chorus torpid eyes belie the guise don’t surmise there’s someone inside Verse haunted by’an early demise not dead i’m just hypnotized sage words barely a disguise to hide there’s no one inside hopeless nothing exciting faithless what’s there to believe graveless no rest for these bones spineless hitherto unknown Chorus 2 vapid ways earn ceaseless praise dearth betrays there’s no one inside B Verse trapped inside this prison nothing but decay No. Stand up, won’t take it I won’t waste away Ahhh Here they come again and again Your sins find you again and again Ahhh Your Choices wound again and again Again and again and again and again (Again and again and again …) Outro I I wanna feel alive I wanna feel the sun I wanna see the sky I I know I’m gonna die But I’m gonna try To live this life Chorus Gleaming eyes Lift toward the sky No disguise There’s someone inside Games & Sources Inscryption Source Map Part 1 Intro - Deathcard Cabin melody 1 Verses - Deathcard Cabin prog variation Chorus - Deathcard Cabin melody 2 (timestamp: 118s) Part 2 Moon Theme Part 3 Chugs - Leshy's theme melody 2 (timestamp: 129s) Prog Build - original Part 4 Lydian riffs - Leshy's theme melody 1 Chorus reprise Intro reprise

This was originally submitted to the Final Fantasy month (November 2023) for Dwelling of Duels. I just had an idea to take Balamb Garden and make in the style of Pink Floyd; specifically Wish You Were Here. I didn't have a lot of experience arranging, mixing, or dealing with instruments other than guitar so I asked for some collaborators (anonymously of course) and I ended up working with some amazing musicians that really helped make everything happen! We may have not placed super high in the end -- I am beyond proud of what we did. Credits: The Rocket Knights - Rhythm Guitars, Arrangement pixelseph - Rhythm Guitars, Arrangement, Squall Connor Engstrom - Lead Guitars, Synth/FX, Mixing, Mastering DeLuxDolemite - Drums Siolfor the Jackal - Bass donut - Rinoa Games & Sources Final Fantasy VIII - Balamb Garden With inspiration from Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here

I submitted a much rougher version of this one over 4 years ago, and finally got around to revamping it off-and-on over the last few months after digging up the judging feedback on it. It has synthwave elements, but mixed more like a rock track, as I don't particularly like the sleekness of modern synthwave-y music. I didn't like how straightforward my initial arrangement was, so I added a weird section with Seal of Time playing and then skipping on an almost mono-channel degraded cassette (yes, I know cassettes don't really skip like that, no I can't make straightforward music and I don't have a good reason why not!). The bassline is my favorite part, and still might be a smidge too loud, but I like it too much to bring it down or filter it any further. Most of the music I make for OCR has some kind of story embedded into the music, but not here. Just wanted to make a futuristic-sounding version of The Boy Who Had Wings. Speaking of futuristic, this is my first time using the new submission form. It's beautiful. Games & Sources Game - Ys III: Wanderers from Ys Source tracks - The Boy Who Had Wings and Seal of Time There's a large handful of versions of both tracks due to the game being made for several different platforms over the decades, but the melodies of all of them are pretty much the same.

track is mono. stereo is a requirement, so this can't pass as-is. i'll review it through anyways with that in mind. starts out with some bass fading in and eventually some hats. this is a pretty long intro - it's not until 0:45 that we even get a kick, and the snare doesn't come until 1:06. so that's a full minute at the beginning with admittedly some not-super-interesting synths to be listening to. there's some melodic content for the first time at 1:50 - that's simply too long of an intro without the synth work being sublime. at 2:20 or so you add an open hat on top of the existing hat pattern. you'll want to dovetail those together to more simulate a drumset being used - the closed hat sounds wouldn't play when the open hat is struck. this noodles for several more minutes before slowly winding down, but there's nothing else new being added. so, from an overall perspective, i think that there's a neat idea here but it needs a lot of execution help. the synths overall lack panache and punch and as a result are really generic and low-energy. the heavily repetitive background part (in the bass, the 404, and the little bell tones that accompany the bass) are just too repetitive - especially for an original that regularly changes it up! lower norfair has a ton of changes as the track goes on, and none of that is reflected in this remix. separately, it's very clear you're turning on and off channels rather than really crafting a shape for each section - the ending as instruments drop out really reinforces that. there needs to be a lot more intentionality to the overall shape of the piece beyond just clicking in and out boxes. lastly, from a mixing and mastering perspective, the piece lacks verve. the percussion is pretty bog-standard but there's no sidechaining or EQing to make it really pop, and the track overall feels quiet. i think this needs a lot more workshopping before it's ready to rock. there's a neat concept here, but there needs to be a lot of attention paid to the arrangement, to the synth instruments and what they're doing, and then to the mixing and mastering before this is ready for prime time. NO

starts out with some omnisphere patches and some truly stunning flute. the string parts right after that are equally lush and beautifully done - the gong is a great touch. piano carries the melodic material when it first shows up - this is a touch dry, i'd have expected it to be wetter based on everything else that's going on. there's a great crescendo to 1:16 where the strings show back up (i'm a sucker for low strings, i love the bass and celli focus here). this has a bit of a Pearl Harbor vibe to it. piano comes back at 1:39 and carries the melodic content through a nice orchestral swell before handing it off to the vins. there's some additive harmonic material here in the 2:15 area that's really nice. the B theme at 2:31 is carried also by the vins. there's a bit of sustain-itis through here where the backing instruments are mostly playing pad chords rather than moving lines, but there's a great payoff at 2:54. the flute here is absolutely the perfect thing to add, takes it to the next level. at 3:18 we get a significant decrease in energy and some new harmonic content. celli get a bit exposed here with their moving line and a late attack. there's some piano (again still feels a touch dry) to play through the last bits and finish the track off. this is excellent as expected. lush orchestration and some really incredible peaks. fantastic job. YES

fun idea for a track! there's a ton of goofy synth work right off the bat that is so fitting for this original. i'll note that the quant of some of the synths don't quite fit into the bass's swing - the swirly synths and subsequent tones at 0:56 are an example, and the big drum beat that comes in right after that also seems to be not quite on the same swing (there's a kick mid-measure every measure that i can't wrap my brain around). guitar work is fun, especially the stuff around 1:20. synth work at 1:41 sounds a lot like the beginning with a new groove under it. similarly, 2:17 again sounds very similar to 1:03. there's a big build through 2:33 for a big solo. the swing is dropped here and it's more straight throughout the band. there's a little bit of groove after the solo and it's done. this has some really fun design work in it. obviously the bass performance is skillful, although like i mention the swing changes occasionally and it's not clear if that's intentional. the synth work is appropriately goofy and has a lot of design time spent on it clearly. i found the repetition to be noticeable. the guitar and trumpet were great adds. i think this is closer than i expected. for a track that is predicated on groove, the track noticeably doesn't always settle into one. however it's mastered well, overall performed well, and it's a fine adaptation of the original. i don't want perfect to be the enemy of good, so for me that's a pass. YES

there is a lot of headroom to start this remix. would have loved to see a bit of compression on it. initial piano tone is gorgeous. the suspension at 0:25 is very nice. the initial performance of the melodic material is also very well-handled - i recognize it's a very conservative adaptation but it's beautifully managed. the broken chord at 1:29 and later is great how it pops out of the texture. 1:42 continues the gradual crescendo to the big climax section at 2:15, and this continues to be richly voiced. there's a significant dropoff at 2:31 and the arrangement becomes more introspective here. there's a final bit at 3:10 and it's done, a bit suddenly - would have preferred a longer sustain there. there is a consistent static sound that i believe is the sustain pedal's action or else some nervous movement by the performer. i've never heard that in a recording before. it is noticeable but not enough to make me want to reject this. certainly better than gould's humming. i think this a beautiful rendition of the theme, minor technical issues aside. there is a ton of patience taking to let the original's beautiful modal tonality shine out and to let the suspensions really sing through clearly. excellent work. YES

the chords don't map directly from what i can hear. that makes these blobs of chords inspired by, and not directly taken from, the original track. they may be highly different voicings and that's where i'm losing it. i really don't dig the idea of us trying to parse this ourselves, this should be an artist-provided breakdown to ensure we're not missing stuff in either direction. edit 2/8: i am teh dumb

agree that both are underrepresented. piano-driven to start. drums come in at 0:11. the kick is pitched relatively high and has little beater tone initially, so it's a bit hard to hear. there's some organ and pads that eventually come in, and we get a big old-school proggy drama progression at 0:59. 1:16 picks back up as if nothing happened and it progresses through the B section of the theme. we get some guitar at 1:39 as a lead, and there's some more upbeat drum work as it picks up at 2:02. the balance here is a little off and the rhythm guitar both sounds not particularly great (highly EQ'd, sounds very synthy) and it's very loud and covering up the more interesting organ work behind it. there's a ritard going into the hold at 2:49, and it tones down for the A theme again on piano. 3:22 is where silent light starts. it fits surprisingly well with the same instrumentation and style. there's some very aggressive panning here that's a little confusing in an auditory sense. the lead guitar is also really loud. this whole section at 4:06 through like 4:25 sounds very loud. the material from the start of the track comes back at 4:34, albeit much slower. this goes through the progression and is done with a very chrono cross-y broken chord to finish. i think this one is pretty close! like really close, this was a tough one for me. there's some notable missteps that i feel really hurt the track. the balance (especially in the guitar) is rough. not only does the guitar not sound great, it's very loud in several spots. i'd recommend turning it down a lot and then spending time volumizing individual parts rather than sticking with one volume for the whole track. similarly, i found the piano throughout to be very mechanical - it's doing the same thing at essentially the same velocity for a lot of the track. you've got a nice shape overall to this, so having the piano be more nuanced in how it's playing and what it's playing would really elevate everything. lastly, the very hard panning at 3:22 was too much for me on headphones. i'd love to hear this one with live guitar, some more nuance in the keys, and some more attention to the mixing of the different elements. NO

love that bass to start. big hit right at 0:30 with some fun use of triplets in a squelchy low lead which made some neat polyrhythms. moves to a more martial tone quickly, displaying a lot of the same patience that past xaleph tracks have featured. there's some vocals (i believe this is xalephito, right?) at 1:32, and we then we have a break section at 1:45. time signature change at 2:10 which i like a lot - the original's time sig was always a high point and i like how you've adapted it here. drop at 2:27. the shaping work on the vocals through here is just great. there's a hard shift at 2:47 with some more polyrhythm stuff and a focus on CoT. i am not a reaction face guy but i audibly gasped when the tri-tone theme from CoT hit at 3:29. it was so perfectly prepped and executed. this is why i love vgm remixes. there's all this audio candy behind the scenes going on behind such an eerie theme, and then you've got the underlying bass beat that's inherited from xaleph's part trucking along under this great sound design. vocals at 4:56 are just what the track needed at that point. the extra post work to crisp up the note transitions really fit the track's style without taking anything away from the performance. the guitar in the background is just perfect too. we get the beat back right after it along with some fun bass blaps. when we got to the drop at 6:17 i assumed the track was done, but the last little bit did a great job putting a bow on the track. this is why i love this community. what a track. i would love to hear the 15-minute version. HOLY SHIT

a general statement - going forward, in your submission emails, it'd be great if you'd include source breakdowns for tracks that include more than one original. it helps with clarifying source usage and making sure we don't miss references. i'm saying this because i don't hear Builder's Stage in this at all. sfx to start. some tempo-synced FM bells as well. slowly builds adding in a variety of elements that are super disparate which is interesting. there's a beat at 0:36 which is very boomy (not sure about that kick drum's room tone and boominess, it's really distracting and takes up a lot of room). build continues until the actual beat hits at 0:59. the groove when the shamisen (?) playing the shinobi riff comes back is really hip, and the combination of instruments playing the lead here is a fun combination. 1:57 is a short break, and then we're back to the shinobi content with some new sounds. the beat comes back at 2:30 and it's a little bass heavy here - there's a lot in the 60-100hz range between that fat pad and the deep kick, so it feels muddy there. 2:50 is a break with some sfx, and then we get some fun winds going into a (very different) section at 3:26. i found this transition to be abrupt and it took my brain a minute to get it around the key change. the amount of what feels like static through here too was kind of weird and i didn't quite get the reason behind so much fuzz in the soundscape. i'll admit i didn't like this section at all. this fades down and maneuvers through an outro. as expected, this is a highly crafted track throughout. i always find your tracks to be explorations in texture that happen to use game music as the framework that you're draping all these different blips and blurbs over, like the skeleton in a paper mache. this one is no different - you took a [honestly pretty weird] original and schmeared a bunch of really interesting textures and concepts over it, and for the most part it works. i still think that section at 3:26 is something that drags the overall product down, and the mastering overall is boomy and lacking in crispness, but the track as a whole demonstrates creative arrangement alongside a far-reaching ear for originative synth work. i think this is definitely above our bar. YES

oh man, look at that audio sausage! right off the bat - you've got a ton of sub-40hz content that needs to be EQ'd out. also the drums are so loud i can't even hear the original through much of it. the track is fun distorted drums (that probably don't need to be so loud, you can be distorted and big without overvolting everything like this) with the original under it essentially unchanged to my ear for the first 1:30. after that you start to do some new stuff, which is great! it's too little too late, however. there just isn't enough transformative arrangement throughout the track. even if the mastering and mixing was good - which they really are pretty rough - this wouldn't be near enough to pass. i recommend muting your drums and make something that's fun to listen to with just the synths that isn't [the original plus a stutter synth]. once you've got that, then the drums are the thing that makes the track great! then you can actually work on mixing the parts together so that they compliment each other. NO