prophetik music   Judges ⚖️

opens with expected drums and associated fills and sfx elements. the arpeggiated bells come in pretty early, and at 0:29 we get the short melody snippet from the original that is in the background at 0:07. there's a kind-of-breakdown right after this with the long strings, and this builds up elements until the actual breakdown at 1:19. 1:19 sounds like original audio to me for a bit before we get real instruments again in an extended sidechain section going over the same strings as before - this is copy/paste. 2:30's again the same strings snippets in a build alongside some sfx, and then a section that's the same as at 0:15. this is followed by the same thing that happened at 0:29, then the same thing that happened at 1:32 (but just the first measure, repeated) for a long time, then an outro on this same section. this is overall a pretty straightforward concept. my concern is that about half the track is repeated material that, if it isn't copy/paste, is really close. there's no concern about volume of source usage - it's just that i don't hear why i'd listen to the second half of the track if i've heard it all already. i think the shape of the piece is fine, the track isn't particularly sparkling in the mix but it's not bad by any means, and i think that the initial adaptation is a good idea. i'd want you to either trim the copy/paste sections or add other elements to them to make them more unique - new instrumentation, new countermelodic elements, or more personalized approaches, for example. NO

It's sort-of house mixed with deep trance, electro. Games & Sources This is the ''Mission Control'' theme, from Gex 3: Deep Cover Gecko on Playstation 1.

fun original. opens with some big, effected synths right in the front of the stereo field. drums are very treble-heavy initially (outside the kick of course) - there's a lot of 10khz+ content in those hats and snare. the beat kicks at 0:42 alongside some sfx. there's not a lot going on initially outside the kit - just bass and an arpeggio stab, and we get a 303 added in after a bit. this section goes on a touch longer than i'd expect given how little's there. we do get a transition into a more chippy, distorted sound around 1:27, and this functions as a break until the drums come out of the closet again at 1:52. there's some pretty hyper bass work initially and then we get a recap of the earlier fairly-thin section from 0:42 (which is the A material from the track). there's another break at 2:35 with the B material, and some sonic theme-adjacent material at 3:00. this builds up and is eventually The Big Chorus at 3:20. i still don't feel there's enough going on in the backing elements for this section - there's nowhere near the intensity or beef of some of your reference tracks for the backing elements. they're very bland and smooth, and that contrasts negatively with the angular lead and aggressive drums. the lead rises to a sustained peak, and then it's done. i think what you have here is a really neat idea. the original's two-phase approach and intense, slow melodic line fits a dnb approach really well, and you've got a pretty solid overall shape for the track with a good amount of breaks and intense sections. what i don't feel is in place yet is the actual payoff sections - almost every section of this track feels like it's missing something. the opening big section at 0:42, like i said earlier, is just kit/stabs/bass, with nothing in the middle of that. similarly, the big hit at 1:40 is the same instrumentation and has nothing in the in-between area until 2:15 - and that instrument is both hard to hear clearly due to modulation on it and is pretty low in itself. last example is the big payoff chorus at the end, at 3:30 - the backing material are these big, bland block chords in pads. this should be the most intense, invigorating section of the song, and most of what i can hear are overly-loud pads. so i think that you need to take another look at each section and find something to make it interesting and compelling. listening again to Hold your Colour and In Silico, each big payoff section that they have in their songs has simple instrumentation (like you have), but each element is uniquely compelling in their own right. finding a way to hit that balance here is what you're missing right now. NO

opens with a big, heavy approach to No Escape. the lead guitar sounds really not real in this opening section. verse transition is very sudden, right off the riff in No Escape. vocals come in right away. drums are really slamming, the snare especially sounds huge and meaty which doesn't really fit the backing elements. the mix is a little unbalanced here as well in that it's tough to tell which vocalist is the melody line (it's supposed to be the higher of the two parts, originally Ashley Barrett's voice). the backing elements are not easy to grab onto either - the guitar chords sound like they're on autowah, and the pitches are hard to grok - this is exacerbated by the reharmonization of the chords under it, which don't sound like they support the vocal lines much at all. lastly, the bass line is just arpeggios, which doesn't really provide any basis under the vocalists. i don't think i'm a huge fan of this verse's layout or execution. the chorus feels more rooted, both because of the less-effected rhythm guitar parts and because the bass is sitting on notes instead of riffing. azmodea's voice is more in front here as well which helps. there's a few pitchy notes in here in the vocal lines. i felt that the changed chords at 1:37 don't do much to support the vocal lines again. second verse is more rhythmic in the backing elements, which is a good choice to mix it up. drums are still really slamming - no dynamics. around here you really start to notice the lack of space between verses and choruses - a few bars of space after the chorus would have really allowed for some room for the mix to breathe. as it is, we're two plus minutes of constant singing into the track, and it's noticeable. a few of the cutoffs (like at 2:16) aren't in time, which also makes it hard to track the melody line. 2:30 brings back the autowah guitar - i really don't care for that, i think it's just clogging up the background without adding anything. the second chorus is straightforward beyond that and what we'd expect given the previous chorus. there's a solo break at 3:00 that is pretty clearly not a live instrument but is tbh pretty creative in approach - i just think that some more attention could be paid to the pick/hammer-on setting for the attacks of the notes on some of the runs. there's The Big Chorus after this, starting at 3:47. sounds like double kick, and the background is just staticky mess with all of what's going on back there. the vocalists sound like they're set on top of the background instead of being part of the backing elements. this section is a dealbreaker even without the issues in the other areas - it sounds pretty rough. there's one last sustained note, and the track is done. i really like the concept here. i'd say that Good Riddance as it is originally is one of my least favorite tracks on the Hades soundtrack, specifically because there's never any breaks in it and it kind of just meanders. reharmonizing it to reinforce the beautiful melody line (when it isn't wandering) is a great idea, and metal fits the genre of the game very well also. i'd say that the execution is lacking here, however, in a few major places. the first would be energy management - you've got constant singing for 2.5 minutes without breaks, you've got the drums going HAM in the middle of a verse where the singers are down low, you've got little dynamics throughout from a macro point of view. giving the track some room to breathe via more intentional, notable dynamics and a break after the first chorus (even 8 bars) would be a huge positive. the reharmonization of the verse especially does not do a lot to support the vocalists. several of the new chords don't actually fit the existing vocal harmonies, and it doesn't sound like the lower vocal line was updated to help with that. separately, especially with the wah guitar and the bass guitar in the first verse, the backing elements don't really clearly delineate the chords being played, so it's hard to map the vocal lines to what's going on underneath them. pads, keys, or more intentionally picked/arpeggiated guitar parts can help with this, so that there's not octaves between a very fast arp in the bass and singers in the middle of their range. overall, the track has a big peak at ~100hz regardless of where you look, and you can hear it it - there's a big, oofy feel to a lot of the mix without the foundation in the 30-40hz range i'd expect from metal. i can hardly hear the kick most of the time, and i think that the vocals could really use a lift around their formants (traditionally around 2.5khz for male/3khz for female voices) to help them stick out of the mix better. getting the kick to have less mud and more distinct beater tone will help as well, as will some more intentional EQ on the guitars. that's a lot of notes! i think this track definitely has legs, and just isn't there yet (similar to when i played the game for my first fifty runs or so). so chasing some of these elements down and addressing them should help craft a more complete whole when it's all said and done. NO

opens with big drums initially, and a whistle for the lead. band and folk elements come in at 0:15, and the rhythmic approach immediately put a smile on my face. the first big band section with multiple lead instruments sounds great, although the rhythm guitar's a bit loud. there's a short toms break before a quick half-time section, and we're back to the head quickly after. again, the rhythm guitars sound loud through here - especially after the lead guitar comes in. this gets pretty hard to hear the lead line. there's a short acoustic riff section to end it, and then it's done. this is a fun track! doesn't overstay its welcome, clever approach, and i think you do nail the style. i want to hear the rhythm guitar channel turned down a db or two before it's done, but that's a super quick fix that'll take longer to render than execute. CONDITIONAL (on reducing the rhythm guitar volume in the big chorus sections a bit) edit 9/8: the fixed balance elements are enough for me! i can hear the lead clearly throughout, and i don't mind that you didn't have to turn down the big guitars to get there. this is good enough for me. YES

fade in (haven't heard that in a long time). bass comes in and isn't really the original's but is reminiscent of it. there's a lot of mud down there around the bass. the vibes with the 'melodic content' (i use that term lightly) come in soon after and the track is more recognizable at this point. i like the vibrato on the vibes, it's well-used here. 1:17's a transition to the opening feel, and the snare variation is similar to the earlier scratch work. the sax that comes in after this is a bit forward - adding a bit more room tone might make it sit back in the mix a bit more. there's a break at 2:03 with just the bass, clave, kick, and vibes. we get another chorus after this of the scratch, another 8 with the opening drumloop, and it's done with some sfx. there's some fadeout cleanup that could be done there - i can hear one of the sfx clips ending. this is an interesting approach to a highly non-melodic original. i think it does a good job representing the original without going too far afield in an effort to make something big out of it. i like the vibes especially, they make the piece. YES

opens with some filtered arps and wide synth elements - i really like this opening feel. the sfx panned to the sides might be a little loud on headphones. i don't hear any of Howling Gears in this opening section, although the arp is reminiscent of the B section as you stated. same issue at 0:36, i don't hear that pattern either, but i do catch the bassline when it comes in at 0:52. the guitar part is playing something that's reminiscent of the piano in the original after this, but to my ears the piano's playing an octave, and the guitar is playing a maj 6th. 2:35's a big shift, and shout's b melody is indeed present although i don't understand at all how it fits into the setting that's already present when it does come in. it sounds like it's in an entirely different key (the backing elements really look like Bb to me and shout's b melody is being played in Fm). the following guitar-led section is easier to understand and more obviously maps to gears. there's a big dropoff here before it gets back into gears again as interpreted earlier. there's a big filter that hits at 5:11 and doesn't sound like it goes away for a long time here - the bottom end feels like it's missing until almost 6:00 for a few seconds. this goes some pretty wide-ranging places, which is neat. my main concern is the source usage, because i don't hear it in extended stretches of the track. i am gonna need to do some timestamping on this because as-is there's not enough source. ? edit 9/4: thanks to jnwake for more in-depth analysis. even with the expanded source notes above, i just can't grok most of the connections that are called out. i would need more explicit, present instances of source material before i'd be able to consider this one. i also think the track would benefit from some more intentionality in the sections, but overall do agree that the track is generally well-produced and quite listenable. NO

this doesn't even need more comments than the source being not present elsewhere than the opening - this isn't pokemon music, it's an original track inspired by the original. this doesn't have a place on this site. NO

lot of mud in the opening section. vocals are super warbly and have a distorted tone that is an easy tell for ai vocals right now. in general the arrangement is not really based on the original at all, but more the concept of the character. there's also, again, a number of notes that are 2-3x longer than a human could hold. it's a fine original track if you like fake music, but the utter lack of source material means it doesn't have a place here. NO

those exports are low-poly, FYI, larry. source usage is a dealbreaker as liontamer mentioned. melody line on the verse for this track fits less than the vocals on the other tracks. there's a lot of weird transients especially noticeable around the 1:35-1:45 section and again the hats/cymbals sound really janky, they're just noise. NO

man, this could have been really cool if it was not so obviously fake. from a concept perspective, tying an a capella arrangement to luigi's humming in this ost is great. but the words are obviously not written by a person, and the source doesn't come back after the first 30s. NO

not enough source again. there's some fun stuff in the actual vgm sections, even if they're not real instruments. lyrics are better than some of the other tracks this dude submitted (although the whole verse around the 3m mark is nonsense), but i agree they're kind of tired by halfway through the dozen. the section at 3:33 has a bunch of conflicting notes even without the vocals going 110% over a bunch of strings, and that slide at the end is pretty silly. same with the sustain at the end of the song. NO

there isn't enough source to pass the standards. the sax parts sound generated with how buzzy they are. this is so frustrating because they're fun songs to listen to, but the artist is trying to cover up just how much they didn't do. craig stated that he played many instruments and used tools to cover the other elements, and specifically stated he didn't use genai to make the track. i do not believe him and do not believe we should accept future submissions without clear proof that he's creating future stuff himself. NO

i'll note that the 'arranger' explicitly avoided responding about who actually wrote the arrangement. they stated who played the instruments but did not clarify who wrote the overall track's arrangement. the track doesn't have enough source so it's a definite no. separately the text is word salad, like larry said (although the joke about going to call mario at the end is admittedly funny), and all of the overheads for the drums are just static. the guitar work is solid throughout, i'll note, and i liked the aggressiveness of the opening section and specifically the altered chord at 0:24 was a fun idea. it's too bad the rest doesn't have anything to do with zelda. NO

opens with some filtered pads and fire sfx. the keys that come in have a beautiful tone - just the right amount of twinkle. the sweepy pads behind it alongside the buzzy bass and chippy arps are just so good - this opening is spectacularly engaging and reminiscent of starlight and the heavens. there's a great autopanned synth that comes in at 0:37 which is imo a touch loud, but i love the tone and what it's doing. a beat comes in at 1:18 and we get a huge genre shift. what a surprise! the accelerando into this is a neat idea too, as a method to help feel like it's being kickstarted. there's some fun rhythmic elements, a filter squelch transition, and we're back to the fire sfx as the Knight wakes up. a bit of a recap and then it's done. i love the suspended chord right before the end, and then adding in the color tones to help make it feel not quite settled at the end (that b2 is delicious). short and sweet, this is another winner from two superb musicians. the story is clear and the inspiration that was taken from it results in a really unique work. excellent job. YES

opens with some filtered synth stabs and some nice pads, very chill. melody comes in at 0:48 - i really like the lead option here. there's a heavy sidechain that's very chill and groovy. there's a break after this section for a bit before we get some of the B material. i like the choice to just use the first bit here and loop it - fits the genre well. there's some whistly bits in the background here that are really nice countermelodic opportunities. there's a big drop at 2:49. there's some FTL-like feel in some of the synths here. i'll admit i wouldn't have minded you using this opportunity to bring in some new tones to the melody parade, but the augmentation used initially here is fun and a neat idea i wouldn't have initially noticed if you hadn't pointed it out. the beat drops around the 4 minute mark and plays us out from there. i wouldn't have minded a resolution for the ending, as this does feel like it just stops. this is a real vibe, dude. i like the attention paid to just grooving through the melodic material. i particularly like the heavy sidechain and how that fits the backing stuff along the angular melodic line. nice work. YES

original is one of my favorites from FF7. opens right away with stutter synths and some recognizable samba-adjacent rhythms in the percussion. the cosmo canyon bassline is there as well but not particularly present. the melody line comes in at 0:19 in what i think is an electric guitar, and there isn't a lot of personalization. guitar doesn't have a lot of body to the tone or verb/delay/chorus to fill it out - part of this might be how it's being recorded. the chorus section of the melody line has a lot more going on, mostly in the drums (there's some really sick stuff happening here in the drums). 1:36's got a solo section which is pretty fun. there's a comp section for a bit and then the melodic line comes back in for a recap. there's a fadeout after this repetition of the entire verse/chorus structure, and it's done. the whole mix sounds like it's been recorded on a smartphone - there's a big hole around 2khz across the board, and each instrument sounds like it's missing something. i think the main issue is just the actual mics being used for the recording, or the recording technique. this is a shame because this is a badass version of the theme! there's so much fun stuff going on, especially in the performance. the original plods in a pleasing, old-world way that makes the build at the end of the chorus exciting, but your version has so much more vibrancy to it throughout thanks to the clave rhythms. i'd love to have heard more variety in the stutter synth - it keeps hammering a lot throughout without much change, and there's definitely room to mix up the backing elements the second time through the melody. a real ending would be great. i also would love to hear more personalization of the melody line, as what's here doesn't take advantage of, for example, the long sustains at the end of each line in the verses. and i'd love an ending, although a fadeout is not a huge problem. but ultimately what's keeping this one back right now is the sound quality. the individual instruments simply aren't recorded at a level that would be acceptable for this site. finding a better way to record - or instead sequencing instruments - would be needed. another option is to use this as a template and get some other folks who have the ability to record or sequence elements to replace what you can't do yourself at a high level. what a fun track! i'd love to hear it with better sound quality and a few tweaks to the soundscape. NO

really old school original here, been ages since i've heard it. opens with some wide, very forward saws. there's a lot of verb and this is really blown out so the lead instrument has an overpoweringly present sound that obliterates anything behind it. there isn't any arrangement on this opening section to my ears that isn't in the original - i think it's even in the same tempo. there's a repeat of the main chorus section with the 'kick' sfx playing faster, but aside from articulating it on sixteenths, there's no change again. so again, there's no arrangement here unfortunately. and then the loop cuts as it's about to loop back to the middle somewhere - so no ending. unfortunately this doesn't fulfill what we're looking for in terms of arrangement. i'd encourage you to take a look at our submission standards, notably section 4, and utilize the workshop forums and discord to get some guidance on how to work towards a more complete arrangement that'd fit what we're looking for on the site. NO

some sfx to start alongside the cymbals to lead in, and the band's all in right at the beginning. band sound is great - drums, bass, keys, saxes makes a nice ensemble. as the last time i heard April play, i think the alto's tone is a bit boxed up - really sounds like the mic isn't at the bell but is up by the left hand, which gives it a closed tone. tenor tone is again fantastic. there's some vibes around the 1:15 that are really nice. consider varying your vibrato speed faster and slower occasionally on the sustains - like at 1:30, slowing it down over the length of the note would really add a neat feel to it. some of the unisons/octaves in here aren't 100% in tune. 2:01's one of the aforementioned key changes. there's some fun harmonized elements in here. the saxes aren't in tune. there's a recap of the opening stuff at 2:38, and then a piano solo that focused a lot around block chords which i think really fits the feel. bass here sounds a little too forward and big. alto's got some funky notes in the solo, and then it moves into another recap of the b theme with some extra backing pads. there's the c section, and the track ends on a final sustain that's not quite where you expect. leaving the pad noise in after the last drum fill is fun. this is pretty straightforward and nails the style well. the sax intonation wasn't great (avoiding octaves can help hide that!), but the overall feel is solid. nice work. YES edit 8/20: the updated intonation fixed my biggest issue. this is still good to go.

gets right into it. panned hats and bass right off the bat, and the melody actually comes in after the vocals do. neat idea. there's a ton of ear candy as expected from something chimpa built out. the two vocal lines pace each other very well. there's a few words that sound funky (always and crawlin around 0:55 are examples), but overall the prosody is pretty solid. there's a melodic break for a bit before the second verse hits at 1:27. this whole section functions as a break, and the plucks and bass movement (and nice sustain!) at 2:06 are a really neat vibe that ultimately winds up being a false build into a bridge. really nice song development. there's some chippy synths for a bit before we get a recap of the opening lines at 3:22. there's some fun sound design to play us off, and it's done. this is a great track! probably my favorite from ad.mixx overall. i love the direction, the concept, and the story. kris of course knocks the backing elements out, there's so much to find on relistens of each section. fantastic job here. YES

opens with some beach sfx and some poppy keys. quickly gets into a melody that's built off of the arpeggiated sequence from the original alongside the expected percussion and additional instrumentation. bass is really quiet off the bat and the water sfx continues for a while which is probably at least partially why that's the case. i really like the octave doubling in the melody here. there's a bit of a break for about eight seconds and we get into a solo break at 1:18. some nice turns in here (and at least one that doesn't work, at 1:34), before a really smooth break for some mallet percussion. the main vibe comes back at 2:06. the backing keys here are a touch loud, but i like some of the extra fills being added in the percussion, and i like the personalization of the lead. there's a recap of the earlier mallet break, and then some sfx see us out the door. this is quick and fun. truly not an adaptation i would have ever expected. nice work. YES

i really prefer the normal too-many-words writeup from lucas =P opens with some spanish-style acoustic guitar and shakers, and gets to the melodic material at 0:40 alongside the addition of hand percussion and rhythm guitar. the backing elements take a few seconds to get settled in and are a bit shaky for the first ~30s, but they lock in around when the harmonized melodic elements start around 1:05. the rhythm guitars are also heavily panned which is more noticeable on headphones, but overall the band sound here is fun. the strings that come in around 1:32 are really nice and subtle, and add a surprising amount of warmth. 1:57's a recap of the Velvet Room theme section from the original, and i like the tremolos on the sustains as a method to convey the held notes. there's a nice break around the 2:48 with just the earlier strings (they sound a touch behind the beat when they're isolated like this), and the following chorus functions well as a build (the marcato strings help here) into the solo section at 3:40. sounds like dueling solos to me which is something i have always enjoyed. there's one more recap of the Velvet Room theme, and a sustained chord for the end, and it's done. this is a fun ride! the simplicity of the instrumentation really shines out here and allows the performances to be the main focus. i thought the rhythm guitar was slightly ahead of the beat throughout, which made slower attacks in the strings and the groove of the drums to sound a bit weird sometimes, but overall this is a really enjoyable take. i particularly liked the way you were able to use several different sections from an original that is pretty long and has a lot of variance between sections. nice work. YES

in my last vote, i called out the need for EQing and volumization to avoid clipping, but loved the arrangement. i love the delicate opening guitar work, with so much variety in how the instrument's being used. the fluttery, glassy burbles around the 1:00 mark are really nice. there's a bit of a break at 1:23, and we get a new feel coming out of that when the melody comes back at 1:35. the vocals are just light and distant enough to really add flavor without being able to focus on them - the spacing is really nice. there's an outro that's pretty rhythmic, and it's done. this is now a lay-up in my opinion. mix is far better, approach is simple but beautiful, and the vibe is great. nice job! YES

opens with the descending arp of the original in a funky 80s-feel synth. beat comes in at 0:15, and i can definitely hear where you're trying to go with this. the piano that comes in at 0:27 is painfully square and robotic unfortunately, and the sample isn't great either. the offbeat pops fit the concept well though. melody comes in at 0:39, and there's some nice panning on it to help it feel more organic in the way it moves. the backing is very static until 1:24 when there's a short break - i'd have liked to hear more to mix it up, especially given that there's only a few instruments playing and not much to keep it unique. the chorus uses a new beat which is nice, but the piano especially is starting to really grate as it's doing the same thing most of the time and it's tiresome to listen to. the piano solo at 2:13 is nice. there's a percussive element in the left ear that is notably far away from anything else in that side and it sticks out a lot. there's another chorus, and what initially feels like an ending until it's made more obvious that it's a transition into more of a shuffle. 4:02 brings in a lot of other elements that don't really get explored much. there's some distance put into the overall tone, and then a single chord finishes the song off. it really seems like you approached this with a goal of simplicity and a patient approach, and i think that's a cool idea for this. i really think this is too stripped back, and separately what's here isn't used to full potential. i think that adding even a single countermelodic element would add a lot to the work overall, and separately (and more importantly) there's so little personalization or velocitization applied to anything outside of the synth blats throughout. the block chords in the piano for example don't change dynamics or approach ever throughout, and the lead instruments also do not have clear examples of velocitization outside of one specific color note in the piano solo. along those lines, each major section has a clear sound that's established in the first bar which doesn't change throughout that entire section. it's too repetitive and it becomes very obvious very quick. i think there's too much repetition throughout, and not enough personalization especially to the backing parts. this needs another pass. NO

took a second to grok what was going on, but there's some really fun stuff going on in that intro. the beat is really fun too, i liked the detuned hat drop effect. lead is unfortunately pretty basic - even a little lfo over time to the sustain tone would have helped. i like the backing blurbs more. there's a break at 0:56 for a bit, and we get some gliding stuff as a neat palate cleanser for a short while before the synth/eguitar comes in at 1:24 as the lead for a short solo. there's a recap of the melodic material before a much more intense B section at 1:51. i really liked the idea here and wish it was more involved. one lil jon sample later, we're in a riding pattern that fades out to end it. i wouldn't have minded the bass there being a touch quieter. this is a neat idea! i think the leads are really boring but i love the concept beyond that. i think this would have been a favorite of a lot of folks in, like 2004-2006. i think this is pretty borderline myself, but probably would lean on the side of good enough due to the fun arrangement and really interesting beat work. i can definitely see the leads pulling down for other Js though and would focus on that if this doesn't make it. YES