prophetik music   Judges ⚖️

Artist Name: Hitrison This song was made in Ableton Live, and attempted to keep some of the ambient feel with the main ostinato being played on piano, but most tracks I work on end up being a bit noisy and/or intense and this is no exception. There were no samples from the game or any other media in the song, but I did use Sonic Bloom's Mellotron (https://sonicbloom.net/free-mellotron-live-pack-bundle-10-packs/) pack for the main melody flute and choir as well as some Taiko drum samples (https://www.subaqueousmusic.com/free-taiko-drum-rack/), and I recorded a few guitar tracks: an ambient noise track in the background (basically just rattled a bracelet on the headstock of my telecaster) and a melody track in the second half. The first half of the track is an ominous buildup, and the second half a trebly explosion. Games & Sources The song is "Lower Brinstar" from Super Metroid, composed by Kenji Yamamoto and Minako Hamano. It's a somewhat slow, almost minimalist ambient piece.

opens with some very light pads and sonar hits. band hit starts at 0:58 and features the melodic content over the top. guitars seem a touch hotter than i'd expect here, but the synth elements carry the melody clear enough. 2:11's the first break. the synths sound roughly the same as they did with the heavy guitar underneath, so maybe backing them off there a bit would have been good. the band comes back in at 2:36 and there's some countermelodic elements in the high guitar which are nice (but a bit hard to hear). drums through here are pretty boring until around the 3:30 mark. There's a bit drop-off at 3:50 and then further at 4:01, and it switches to being synth-led again. the long pad attack here is really obvious and i didn't care for that at all. the shift to Arthas comes at 4:26 and it's a nice change from what you had going so far. the feel is much heavier and the blastbeat is a good change from before which was getting dry. this does the audio sausage thing for a bit until 5:36 when it shifts back to Invincible. there's some repetition here - the last minute or so is similar to 2:36 - and then it's done. from a mixing perspective, you do an excellent job of ensuring that everything's audible and clear all the time, even through the blastbeat sections. it's so impressive. overall i found this more synth-led than other tracks i've heard from you, and i think i preferred when it was more guitar-driven. i think you leaned on the synths to make this not "black metal with a vgm track layered on top", as opposed to your previous submissions which were more holistically composed. this is still a fun track and it's definitely handled well - i just don't think the arrangement was quite as solid as your previous tracks. it's still over the bar and is a great listen. YES

wild original, really fun ride. opens with an organ-like arp and some really fun electro vocals. the build into 0:41 is great, i was ready for a bop and it's a half-time groove. there's a great track outline here in this opening section - the intro verse and refrain flow well into the second verse and refrain. i think there really could have been a nice break there though as there's a lot of words in the opening sections. there's some fun modulations around the 'wasted all of this life' section, and the one right after as well. there's another verse/refrain package and a repeat of the earlier 'wasted all of this life' section, and a final verse to finish it. the track feels like it goes by pretty quick! i think that's a byproduct of how wordy most of the lines are, and there not being an instrumental section throughout. that said, there's a lot of really fun ideas in this. as expected there's a lot of musical complexity in the original, and the way you adapted this into a vocal track is seriously impressive. i also think that ad.mixx's approach with the intentionally heavy autotuned vocals really works so well - there's a codependence between the pad-heavy backing elements, the restrained drums and bass elements, and the vocal parts, i can't imagine they'd work so well together if this was clean vocals. the master's so clean too, as expected - it sounds fantastic. really fun track. excellent work. YES

12-minute inspirational work without timestamps or words? =( good thing i have listened to a bunch of post-rock. their production is fairly consistent with what i'd expect from a band that stylizes themselves as having modern classical influences. the opening drone is fully 20% of the work's length. i would have much rather heard the original's voiceover, to be honest. opening glock works surprisingly well with the heavily distorted drone. opening guitar tone is beautiful too, the backing part's light filtering really is very nice. there's a great build into 1:50 and a nice delicate approach to this section - the triplets are a great choice. i always think of bLiNd's approach to this track as the definitive version, so it's fun to hear a significantly different feel. 2:44's when the build starts a bit. continuing to include the glock is nice here, and the bass tone is really nice too. 3:23's texture just sounds loud to me. i like the idea and the frenetic, energetic drive that the drums have through here, but there is some artifacting that is not pleasant to my ears. following the big section, we get a very patient outro in a similar vein to the initial drone. i'm reminded of some parts of Bon Iver's self-titled album in the mastering and approach of this remix. there's an earthiness to the arrangement that is much more personal than some highly-curated, uber-mastered tracks we've gotten recently. this is a neat idea and i really appreciate the patience it takes throughout to express what it's saying. YES

big guitars with a ton of huge verb to start. i love how arena this feels at first for an opening. 0:39 brings in the Hu Lao Gate theme in the bass initially, and then the aforementioned guitar riff is right after. this is a pretty straightforward runthrough of the theme with rock drums instead of the silly electro drums in the original, but there's more verve in some of the harmonic elements than in the original. the electronic sfx are a little curious, i didn't really get where those were coming from. i was wondering how you'd do the stutter and...you did exactly what they did, so i guess that makes sense =) there's an interlude that's wildly different from everything else in the original, and then we're back to the original structure for some ridiculous solo work (like, holy crap, this is outrageous!). keytar solo is also superb as expected. after the solos we get a bit of the A theme, the same stutter effect as before, and it's done. not really an ending. i think this is a fun track to listen to. you're right in that the original is a solid foundation for crazy soloing. overall the arrangement is really close to not being enough for our standards - there's so little that you're adding that's different to make it not a cover with sick soloing. i think the adaptation to the style and adding in some extra harmonies here and there, alongside the pairings of the intro and interlude/bridge section, make it enough. from a mixing standpoint i can hear everything easily and the guitars have a lot of meat, so that's great. i'd love to hear more arrangement on this - there's so much that could be done with such a blank canvas of original material - but this is probably over our bar right now. YES

Cast: * minusworld - arrangement, production, guitars, bass, VSTs * Development of Avoid - guitar solo at 2:59, additional rhythm guitars * Biggoron - keytar solo at 3:27, keytar leads I spent many, many hours farming gate captains in Dynasty Warriors 2 and 3 for stats. As a result, the Hu Lao Gate theme is seared into my brain. When I started submitting to Dwelling of Duels this song was on my short list to cover when the right DoD theme fit. The source tune is such a banger that I didn't want to change much. The structure is pretty simple, using the tried-and-true method of turning an ABC game loop into ABC twice, but with solos! * Intro (Map Theme) * ABC (Hu Lao Gate) * Interlude (original bit + DW3 opening cinematic) * ABC with solos I always found the juxtaposition of ancient China with 80's rock hilarious, which spawned the title "Anachronistic Axes". In keeping with that title, I wanted this track to be a celebration of the axe! The guitharmonies in the source tunes were already a great bedrock. I added a Mr. Big-style interlude between the ABC parts, invited Development of Avoid for an insane guitar solo, and also invited Biggoron specifically for a keytar solo... since the keytar is axe-shaped. B-) Hope you enjoy! Games & Sources Intro: Map Theme (aka Oppression v2) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foN3LZfMypc Primary source: Hu Lao Gate (aka Jump into the Battlefield v2) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blVCdQ1-Ecs&list=PLiLjrJxEE-t_nsyrdn-FgdQZaR7dBgvg_&index=24 Also this bit from the intro cinematic is featured in the Interlude: https://youtu.be/bSh8qDwC7jw?feature=shared&t=23

there is a version in the submission comments from 4/13. make sure you're listening to that version. @MindWanderer @Chimpazilla just fyi as this is from after your votes.

several seconds of silence to trim off the beginning. opening is a really delicate synth arp and pad with some cinematic orchestral celli. the iconic whistle lead is represented at 0:17, and there's a synth bass in there under the celli as well. we get a beat at 0:31 and some more cinematic orchestra stabs. there's no rolloff here so there's some mud down bottom that's a little distracting. lead here is played by a flute, and is played as the original is with no personalization. i hear the ghuzeng in this section at 1:25 but it's not particularly idiomatic - it's used in a western method through here with no multi-articulations and no vibrato, so it's basically a steel harp or piano here. there's a few of the pitch wiggles at the end of phrases though which is a nice add. there's a falloff at 1:49 that isn't particularly prepared, and we get the same feel as back at 0:31 for a bit. the same flute lead section as back at 0:47 plays with the ghuzeng from 1:25 layered on top. this felt pretty copy/paste until the riff at 2:28, and continued feeling like that after this section until 2:48. there's a very patient outro after this section. i liked the more atmospheric feel of this outro. overall i think there's a lot of repetition in the last half of the piece. virtually everything between 1:53 and 2:47 is repeated content with no changes outside of a two-second descending riff in the ghuzeng. that's too much. i like the overall feel of the track, and the groove you have going is a neat idea. hearing no personalization on either major melody line along so much repetition, however, is tough. i'd love to hear more BronxTaco shining through on most of this track. it feels like all the best parts are cribbed exactly from the original. i think your instrument choice overall is neat, and i'd love to hear you explore that more - just like you do in lower brinstar in the game! adding more personalization and breadth to your approach will only improve your arrangement here. i feel like this is really close, and i understand if other judges don't feel the repetition is as big of a deal. for me to pass it, i'd want to hear more personalization throughout, and for that repeated section to not be a straight copy of the previous section. change some instrumentation, add some new countermelodic material, mix up the chords a bit, change your approach a bit, just do something so 30% of the song isn't the same as another part. NO

track has about 2db of headroom. starts fairly simply, between the bass, countermelodic element/pad, drums, and lead. there's some eventual arp movement added and extra chordal elements, and it then shifts back down to a simpler layout before looping. this is, unfortunately, not really what we do in this community much. we do have a lot of chiptune arrangements! but this is very straightforward, with few changes to the original outside of some very minimal added countermelodic elements. this does not demonstrate transformative arrangement, and is closer to a cover. beyond that, it's only really about 1:11 of music before it loops, and that's nowhere near enough material length-wise to pass our bar. i would encourage you to read our submission standards and review what kind of stuff in general we put on the site. this has some interesting ideas! but it'd need to be fleshed out a lot more and probably would need some post processing to make it less grating in the lead before it'd be something that we'd consider. NO

big guitar-driven opening. 0:36 the drums kicked it off and it really started cooking. there's a lot of lower content and the bass sits a little high, so it comes across as very lower mid heavy. the guitars and bass are very clear and the drums are saying fun things - definite dragonforce vibes when the vocals come in at 1:13. it's hard to understand the words that are being said, but holy crap, what a voice! killer range. the first few lines of the chorus are so dragonforce, it sounds like it's straight out of the joke commercial they made of their hits. track blows through the next verse and hits another chorus with some neat harmonic elements added. there's an instrumental bridge that hits at 2:48 that features the required rising 'ahh' vocal yell and guitar solo. solo is outrageous as is expected. there's some pageantry at 3:48ish in the guitar work with a bunch of layered stacks and some really fun panning work. track comes back around to the chorus one time before an extended outro featuring the melodic content and a solid 15+ seconds of glam slam outro insanity. what a ride! i love everything about the arrangement here. this maps so well to the style and your choice of collaborators was excellent. the track feels a bit weird in the low end overall, but it's mixed such that i can always hear everything that's going on, and it doesn't get tiresome to my ears after nearly six minutes of balls-to-the-wall rock. what a fun track. YES

dunno if i'd call this a mix of the two games officially. this is pretty clearly just FF7Rem. really interesting opening feel. accordion, guitar, and what sounds like the bouzouki to start. would have liked whatever plectral instrument playing the single tones here to be a touch louder. some melodic content in the accordion, and then the band sound comes in at 0:33. there's some really fun crunch in that first chord, very reminiscent of what makes the FF7 overworld theme so good. vocal line at 0:56 sound great, a bit of rawness alongside the nice backing elements. there's not much bass going on here - drums are pretty quiet too tbh - and there also doesn't appear to be much formant boost here, so it feels pretty mid-heavy with some pressure in the 200-300hz range. a bit of lift in the 3k range (this might require different EQing than the bigger parts later?) would allow you to turn down your vocal volume while still cutting through the mix, and in turn reduce some of that pressure on the fundamental. there's the lightest touch of autotune artifacting at 1:19 (your smiling face). i really like the instrumental refrain after this verse - it's a great contrast to the body of the verses. i also like the tremolo guitar accents in the second verse, again reminiscent of the original soundtrack (Life Without Parole is the vibe i get from that). there's a prechorus at about 2:17, and your alto tone is still really solid through here. it's obviously low so excellent job continuing to maintain quality. there's a touch of overlap at 2:47 and then we get The Chorus, which sounds freaking awesome. i see the same lift at the 3.8khz range (not sure it's on the vocal part for sure) that i saw before and i think that freq is a touch high, because the vocal parts are still very loud relative to everything else in order to speak here. harmony parts though are an excellent addition and sound good, and are balanced really well. i wouldn't have minded more attention to consonants in the vocal line to be able to understand the words a bit better. 3:20 is a guitar lead part and sounds superbly in-style - love the octaver and the tone of the lead. there's no transition to the prechorus and i wouldn't have minded a crash or something. this builds into the second chorus and again this is a high point. there's a ton of suspensions in the backing part which is a really neat sound. i could hear a lot more of the keys in this section too which was really nice. there's an outro on the instrumental refrain, and a great solo line from EK, and it's done. what a ride! this is a really fun rock ballad that overall sounds solid. there's some nits in production and execution that i would love to hear get updated, but overall this does a nice job fleshing out the original's fairly basic chord progression while adding a lot of verve and folky style to the structure. YES

given the vote count, i'll pass this to TheManPF to see if we can get something to fulfill the C.

new version in the comments of the submission form.

big blow to start. immediately recognizable style being aped here. guitar comes in at 0:24 and is just what i'd expect for this feel. brass are fun but obviously fake, using them a bit less for those stabs might have helped cover that up a bit. 1:03's solo entrance sounds great, and i particularly liked 1:20's riff. there's a break at 1:45 that's more break than i'd have expected! i figured there'd be a bass solo or drums or something in there. after this is what i'd call a rolling section as it rides on the 7th of each chord for a bit. guitar is a bit twangy on the bottom here. then there's a sustained chord with some fun riffage and it's done. i was a little concerned about source usage given the original's minimal nature and the extended solo. i get source from 0:08 through 1:03, 1:53 through 2:00, and 2:08 through the end. that's 97s out of 165, so we're good there. this is a fun romp through twelve-bar blues. i like how easy it felt for you to stay in the form while exploring the original's 7th-dominated theme. track is short but sweet. nice work. YES

agree the opening is extended and doesn't appear to be directly related to the original. with such a short original, though, i don't mind. the chord pattern at 0:34 starts to fit the original (not exact), though, and then we start to get the melodic content in a very expanded method at 1:10 or so. i really dig the beat here, and the use of big wide chord stacks with tons of high-end content is a really neat way to represent this. there's a big break at 1:42 or so, and this is a good thing to give some space to the opening section's heavier beat. it also provides nice contrast to the big blocks at 2:15 and gives them more impact. that section has a ton of verve, and the following bouncier section at 2:54 has some neat new sounds that fit the vibe well. key change at 3:30 helps keep things interesting, and it's a straight shot to the end from there. this is a great adaptation of a simple, short original. there's a lot of variety of synths used within a fairly narrow palette, and i appreciate the overall shape of the track as well as it flows from section to section. nice job. YES

starts out with octave riffs. 0:20's addition of the upper octave sounds great with the arps under it, and then it really hits at 0:29. total band sound is great. 0:50's back and forth conversational lead work was a good idea to keep it moving and not be solely guitar-dominated. 1:10 shows it's not a castlevania remix without some descending arpeggiated elements played by an organ, and that section serves as a bit of a break. it navigates some solo work and then has the conversational section again. 2:13's half-time section is again well-timed to provide a bit of a break from the faster, heavier first two minutes. this goes back into a third conversational section, which is probably too many times to go back to the well for the same thing. around here i noticed that the drums overall are pretty consistently the same and outside of fills were not really doing a lot of unique stuff. the switch to double-time at 2:51 though was a nice change though and then the subsequent double pedal stuff was also fun. the track changes yet again at 3:23 and it noodles a bit until it's done. great playing by zach on this one for sure. lots of fun back and forth. i think it ran out of ideas a bit near the end with the third back-and-forth and the end being so different from the rest, but overall it's a fun romp between the two themes. nice work. YES

classic original. also the remix really needs a name. opens with some (very very) quiet arp elements. it's a neat opening idea but really needs some compression as it's almost too quiet. bass and lead come in at 0:25 along with some static fx. this is a really cool vibe and is super patient with the melodic elements. i liked the string sweeps a lot - they're very subtle. 1:17 adds some more textural arps and still is very patient with the approach. the chordal elements that come in during the B section of the melody are again subtle and nice. 2:08's a 'break', if you can really have one when the track's like this, but there's a nice build into 2:34 which opens the filter and adds some nice countermelodic elements. i wouldn't have minded if the melodic element and main backing arp got new sounds here as they've been repeating for the entire track and probably should be mixed up. there's a nice build into 4:16 and the track's clearly on the downswing here as the melodic content drops. this section dragged and probably could have had more direction via subtractive arrangement and not sticking to the length of the original melodic loop. it ends on a confused chord that is probably a iv, which isn't my favorite choice but it's not technically incorrect. this is a really neat one. there's a ton of subtlety to the associated arrangement elements, and the countermelodic elements that are used were fun. there's a lot of low-end rumble, which is possibly contributing it to being a bit dense in the low mids, but overall i felt it sounded pretty good. my concern is with repetition, of which there's a lot. we don't ever hear the melodic material changed up - either in synth choice or in how it's presented - and essentially every element says the same thing for the rest of the track once it's introduced. it comes down to if i think that the repetition is beyond that of what'd be expected for the style, and i land on the side that says it's repetitive but not too much. so with that i think this is over the bar. YES

verby arps to start, and a really fun wide synthy lead to start. 0:40's where we start to get a beat, and it really kicks off at 0:55. i don't know if i'd call this synthwave as much as just a fun bop with synth instruments - i like the variation right off the bat in drum elements and in the nice wide bass that's being used to keep it feeling warm and fuzzy. whatever lead is introduced at 1:35 is definitely not my cup of tea, but i like what it's saying. there's some density issues around this section as the bass and really low mids are really heavy there in an abnormally wide band, so it's a bit muddy as the kick, wide bass, and some of the arps are colliding. some more intentional EQ there could definitely help with that, as well as some intentional volumizing on the snare in the following quieter section. i also heard some crunchy notes as a borrowed chord overlapped a non-borrowed chord at 2:22 in the reverb tail. there's a nice dropoff at 2:40 for ordon village - it almost sounded like auld lang syne for an instant there which was fun. using the hats and arp to keep the energy moving towards the bigger section at 3:13 was a great choice, and using the excellent skyhold theme there as a wrapping element for the higher energy parts of the piece is also a great choice. it's such a strong theme and you let it shine through well. there's some nice sustains at 3:48 which serve as a great wrapper to settle the listener down without a fadeout. this is a fun romp through some great themes. i agree with LT that some of the synth work is a bit stilted and wooden, but overall the warm vibes really come through well with all of the wide, slightly detuned elements. fun track. YES

starts out with some light drums, and clarinet and bass clarinet come in pretty quickly. they're well played and it's a fun primary idea for the track. clarinet tone is a bit stringy, and doesn't seem helped by the mic or lack of room sound. bass clarinet is more fleshed out and has a great tone, but also isn't really helped by the mic or lack of room sound. for the clarinet especially, make sure you've got enough mouthpiece in your mouth, that your reed is doing you favors in terms of hardness, and that you're really trying to keep your teeth and throat open enough to allow for the proper resonance (especially on sustains it sounds like you're clenching your teeth a bit). flutes come in at 0:29 and are both better mic'd and playing some really fun countermelodic content. they're a bit loud in the mix relative to the other elements - flutes are always hard to mix because they cut through so easily. the b section arrives at 0:53 with a lot of sustains in the clarinet that emphasize the aforementioned tone issue. there's a ton of fun window dressing here though especially in the bass clarinet. flute takes the lead at 1:16 and the singing tone really carries this nicely. this is an opportunity for volumization though, as the flute really is a lot louder than everything here. bringing the flute a bit back (counterintuitively) relative to the other elements will help it not crush everything when it gets into power range in the middle of the upper octave. i really like the clarinet countermelodic content here too, your tone fits into the backing elements really nicely. flute carries the B melody at 1:41 and there's again some fun turns of phrase by the clarinet. the bass clarinet gets lost in here a bit because it's up in the upper registers and so doesn't have the bite that was helping it cut through down lower. there's a final hit and we're done. overall this is a really fun arrangement! i really love the different countermelodic elements throughout. i really wasn't sure how i'd feel about a track that was just winds and drums, but the bass clarinet really does a great job staying active and keeping the lower end handled. this is a great adaptation, nitpicks aside, and is definitely over our bar. nice work. YES

wow, what an original! this is a great track. initial riffs is just what i expected, and i love it already. immediate head-bobber. performance is stellar. 0:42's a break, with the following band sound at 0:56 more of a fusion vibe like you'd expect to hear in a persona track. 1:18 is finally the MOAR DAKKA i was hoping for and has some plini vibes with the ascending melodic line over heavy rhythmic chugs. 1:57's recap with the two leads is great, and i like the immediate key change here to ensure there's no chance anyone will think it's getting too samey. 2:28's break is well-timed and needed after all that, and the last gasp of fresh air before the end. synth solo at 2:40 is superb. during the section at 3:00ish i was really impressed with just how clean the mix sounds - there's a ton going on, and it's all audible and punchy and vibrant. EQing here is very good. 3:17's section felt a bit tacked in there as a palette cleanser since it doesn't really dovetail into adjacent sections, but the following section with trading leads sounds great. 4:05's a straight blow through to the end, and it's done. what a track. this is super fun - there's a lot of genre shifts and style elements in here for everyone, and it just keeps on evolving as it goes along. excellent work. YES

sfx to start, then some panning mandolin and arpeggiated guitar work. the beat hits at 0:31. i like the bass tone immediately and also like the way the elements are woven together here. sax is a bit out of time in a way that was confusing at first. there's a break at 1:09 and the celli here sound nice, and the groove that comes in right after is a really energetic and pressing sound that i like a lot. melody's back in at 1:49 and it's quiet, with the (fun) guitar work covering it up quite a bit. false ending at 2:17 is really just an excuse to lean more into stemage which i think is a great decision. there's an outro that starts at 2:59 and is mostly just sfx, and it's done. this is pretty straightforward, but i wouldn't call it conservative. i like the way you've taken the individual elements of the original and pieced them back together in interesting ways. this is really solid. nice work. YES

some FF5-esque synths to open the track. 0:25's where the beat and bass come in (in a different tempo, which is an interesting choice) and it feels a little dark. wouldn't have minded more highs through here. lead is pretty much playing the original's content - i would have liked to hear some movement on the synth lead part as well as dynamics. it also just ends where tsori comes in, which is a little weird. trumpet doesn't speak over the mix right off the bat but sounds great when it gets a bit higher. i liked the doubling on the theme down the octave as well, and the shift at 1:17 to drop the hats and focus on the melodic content was a good one. again the trumpet kind of drops off suddenly at the end of that section - a more dovetailed ending would have been preferable. i really didn't care for the solo tone at first - there's a very high ringing around 4khz that really grated - but i got more into it as the solo moved along. i'd have loved to see the drums changed up for the solo section to help keep it moving forward. there's several rhythmic elements in this section that weren't quite lined up - the drum triplet's second two hits are late, the solo part at 2:04 is a bit out of time, as is 2:18. the solo ends on a non-chord tone which is a bit unsupported. overall the solo sounded pretty good, but i didn't find that it followed the chords and hit the color tones quite as much as i'd have hoped that it would have. i liked the overall rhythmic direction you went with it, however, and i'd encourage you to use space in your solos more often to help drive energy. with synth solos especially, varying vibrato and velocity can really take it to the next level - experimenting with the mod wheel, pitch wheel, and using a synth that is velocity-driven can really pump it up. there's a bigger section with some fun interplay between the different elements at 2:50. this is the climax of the piece and it's fun to hear everything interweaving, and then come together at 3:15 for the same descending lick. the piece meanders a bit over the last 25s but it eventually finds a nice closing tone. i wouldn't have minded a fade on the synth vs. a hard cut like it had. this is a pretty neat combination of ideas. trumpet and what i'd consider to be a jazz/blues guitar tone with synthwave elements makes for an interesting overall feel. i liked the adaptation of the themes, and for the most part the solos sounded good and were interesting. i think that i called out a ton of nitpicks above but overall this is over the bar. nice work. YES edit 7/23: coming back to this a few months later. the bass is really crushing everything else in the low end. LT's right that the kick doesn't have any beef, but it's because the bass is stealing it all. some sidechain or an altered bass rhythm that's not just repeated eighths would help with that. the synth solo also isn't really doing it for me - i don't like the tone still, and it spends a lot of time not doing anything, and then ends on a non-chord tone. i think LT's statement of there being a lot of little things adding up makes sense. there's a ton of nits here and i think that correcting them would help a ton. i'm going to change my vote. NO

opens with a backbeat feel. off-beat guitar is a little loud, as is the eventually melodica (??) lead. not having a pad here to fill out the chords makes it feel a bit empty in the early section. there's also a good bit of panning so the lead and organ that comes in later is a little wider than expected. there's a bit of a drum break at 0:41, and that goes right into the air theme at 0:55. that same lead finally stops playing at 1:08 and its nice to hear something else for a bit. i really didn't care for the tone of the melodica lead and it just kept going with no real break. there's a recap of the water island theme and the organ continues to do interesting things in the background. 1:35 is a shift in the drums and organ - sounds like the organ gets a chance to do a bit of a solo - and then we have a second recap of the water island theme (this is, i think, copied directly from 2:01). there's a fade-out and it's done. i think there's a lot going on here that's good. i like the overall vibe of the arrangement - i think you are pretty close to nailing the backbeat-style chill feel. i also like the use of drums and bass overall. i think the drums have a lot of copied patterns and could use a bit of variance once and a while, and i definitely found the melodica lead to be grating and over-loud - i can't help but wonder what it'd sound like with a different lead used for part or all of those sections. separately, i thought that there is a general lack of anything to help ground the chords for each section - a light pad would do wonders to help clean that up. lastly, mixing up the presentation of the water theme that's repeated several times (add some personalization each time!) and the countermelodic content behind it would be a great choice. i think this is fun, and pretty close. there's a few things to fix and then i think it's there. NO

gets right into it. there's a lot of finger noise on the bass, particularly the attack, which is partially cool to hear how organic it is and partially distracting. the vibes are spare in their application - almost too much so! i'd love to hear more! - and there's a few sections where they don't line up with the bass (like the riff at 2:00). there's some copy going on in the vibes to my ear around the :50-1:00 mark and again at 1:55-2:05. the vibes don't have much velocitization to my ear at all - i don't hear many attacks that aren't exactly the same as the previous entries. there's also some notes that are not idiomatic (like 1:49 and each time that pattern occurs before in the track). i'm with LT. it's a creative arrangement that is uncanny-valley and has some technical missteps that are unfortunate. i'd love to hear a slightly more fleshed-out version that features more attention to the vibes realism and bass attack variation. i think the clever interplay is great though and i think this is over the bar, i just wish that more was done with it. YES

chill pads to start. there's some panning FM bells and ballad drums that come in next, and the bass is there at 0:43. this is a longer intro than i'd expect to hear overall, and i didn't care for how overtone-heavy the FM bells were. the clean electric guitar that comes in next is nice, but the muted stuff that's panning is a touch ahead of the beat and really distracting given how important groove is to this style. the melodic content - really more of a motif initially - finally comes in at 1:25. the 16th hats here are a good idea to keep it different from the opening. the mixing here is a little mid-heavy (i think you've got a lot in the 250hz range to my ear, some notch EQing will help). the b portion of the melody is at 1:50 and the guitar work here is simple but effective. there's a break at 2:10 and that's well-timed. 2:29 has a guitar solo that sounds regularly a fourth off of the correct key - there's a lot of tones that don't quite fit. for example, you've got a G-A-Bm chord progression, and the first part of the riff hits an F over the G (G isn't a 7 chord here), a G over the A chord (again, not a 7), and settles on an A over the Bm chord (again, not a 7 chord), then plays A G# F# E over a Bm chord (Bm does not have a G#, the G# bites against the earlier G chord) and settles on an E - the 4th of Bm, not a natural landing tone - over that Bm. it ends better though and that resolution is really nice. 2:51 is a nice lead break with a smooth synth taking the melodic content. there's some more heavy rhythm guitar in the next run of the B theme and the guitar lead comes back for a last run through. the panning FM bells come back for a bit and the pads fade us out. this is honestly really close. i think the arrangement is pretty conservative - the original does a lot more with the melodic progression that wouldn't really fit into a synthwave track, so i get deconstructing it like this. the style is pretty solid - larry said deliberate and i think that's an apt term to describe the feel. i like layering in the guitar where you did as well. i don't think the solo sits well at all until the last few notes, and there's another sour note note at 2:24 that's a half-step off - i can't help but wonder if it could be fixed in post-processing rather than re-recording it. i also really didn't care for the muted panned guitar elements that came in a few times and weren't really on the beat. i'm not comfortable passing this. i'm going to reach out and see if we can't work out the solo though because if that's fixed i can definitely see this passing. NO edit: 4/12: we worked together to fix the solo. it's above the bar now for me!. YES