prophetik music   Judges ⚖️

opens with a much slower and relaxed vibe than the original, for sure. melody comes in at 0:19 and there's some fun altered/extended chords in there that i don't remember from the original. this is definitely a city pop feel, i agree there. i appreciate the tight tone of the drums as well. there's a recap of 0:19 at 0:57 (it does sound exactly the same for maybe 20s), and some altered chords for the second half of the A section in the vibes. there's a bit of a break, and then we're into the B section at 1:35. there's some wooble on the leads here that's a neat idea - i didn't notice it in the earlier section. this section kind of just trucks through the material before getting back to the A side as fast as possible, at 1:54. it's a little noodly there, but the track finds where it's going when it gets back to the A material. around here i started wanting a bit of a break, and while we get a bit of one with yet another copypasta of the second half of the A section from earlier at 2:32. and then more copypasta - 3:00 is 1:35 again, with some changes on the second half of that section. 3:29's a recap of the opening, and this is also copypasta. this block repeats for a while and then fades out. so most of the second half of the track is repeated exactly =( i think this is a nice idea, and i like the execution of it in terms of synth choices and instrumentation. it's a real nice vibe. but the repeated material is excessive. one or two sections repeated is one thing, but this is half the piece. i think it's fine to repeat concepts as long as you're mixing up the next time it comes around - however that's not what's happening here. get me some variety! and then i'll be very happy to pass this. NO

Hey guys, This is my version of Sakura's theme from SFA2, which is a bit of a fan favorite track if I am not mistaken. The point of departure here was, like my previous submission, using sounds similar to (or inspired by) the og CPS-2 board, but I took a song in a very different direction than the original: it's slower and a bit more wistful. In retrospect, I think it sounds a bit like City Pop ballads? Games & Sources Stage Sakura - Street Fighter Alpha 2

opens with a cameo of ballad of gales in the choir and sfx, and then jumps right into WW's title track. the taiko pattern is pretty recognizable, and the initial live elements are fantastic. the elements are heavily panned (there's a lot in the right ear that's just not in the left) and that's confusing on headphones but would probably be more impactful on speakers. i wouldn't have minded hearing a lower instrument to underpin this entire section given how high most of the parts are. i'm not a fan of the choir at 1:57 - it feels so fake as compared to the earlier uses of it - however the intro to sheikah tower is fairly delicate. i really like the low flute work. the intentionally blocky representation right after that is also a clever adaptation of the stutter synth in the original. the TotK wind temple theme is woven in here nicely as well. very delicate playing again. the the transition into the WW wind temple is just so not what i expected at all. the original's quite weird so this was an interesting idea. i wouldn't have minded a more fleshed-out background here than just the choir initially, but i like the bigger variety you give it as we get into the 5:15 area. the breadth of the arrangement continues to expand as we get into palace of winds, and the scope increases as well. i liked the bass clarinet in here especially, one of my favorite instruments. the bells in the right ear are too loud here, and feel very shrill and forward. i realize this is part of a suite, but the ending still feels very abrupt and unprepared. the track is fairly imbalanced between the ears. most of the content throughout is in the right ear, and the panning is more significant than it probably should be. separately, i wasn't a fan of the ending, although i recognize at least partly this is due to the edit made to allow this to be on the site. the rest of the arrangement is aces, though - really nice transitions between most of the themes, and the adaptation with live instruments is really nice. YES

opens with just drums, before we get an FMy bass and some distorted drum elements. it was a touch confusing what was going on in the drums at first, but once the more electronic/effected elements came in, it was more clear what was going on. coming in fresh, the opening drums sound strange due to the effecting on them, but they do fit better once i have context. melodic material comes in at 0:16. i like the distortion on the melody line, and i like the little harmonic shouts in each ear when they come in. i don't like that it's pretty static of a sound with no lfo or delta on sustained notes. there's some backing elements here - bells and an organ maybe? - and they're very oofy and heavily verbed while the lead, drums, and bass don't have any verb that i can hear. those backing elements really feel surprisingly dense. being in the same range as the melody doesn't help, and when they go lower for the second part of that first melodic phrase, it sounds very dull and congealed. the cymbals throughout this section are also essentially just static - the part at 0:30 is actually kind of shrill. mixing up the lead at 0:49 is a good idea - it has some delay on it and sounds so different simply because of that bit of effecting. it also doesn't have anything that helps the sustains sound less grating, which is disappointing. 1:20's a recap of the melody. 1:30's the same as 0:49 to my ears, outside the panning of the melodic blurbs, but there's some minor added harmonic elements on the back half that help it not be completely copied. 1:50's a big dropoff - i wouldn't have minded a more gradual falloff there. the bells in this next section are nice but the hard panning felt a little weird in headphones. at 2:16, animal got tired of the slow dancing at Fozzywig's Annual Christmas Party and kicks it off for a bit, but after one pass, it's back to being quiet again with another hard transition for a bit before it builds back up for one last blow. at 3:01, we've got (i think) the fourth time we've had the melody in the same instrument coming in with the same ascending line. luckily this time there's some changed elements in the melodic representation, but this would have been a great chance to mix it up and not do the same sound again. there's the ascending single chord bit and it's done. the different background synths end at different times, which i'm not sure was intentional. for a track that's 3:30, it's surprising that the texture is the same for almost three of those minutes. the loose, heavily reverbed organ and bells in the background alongside the very not-verby lead, bass, and drums never changes. combined with the lead never really changing after that first change at 0:49 makes for a very static soundscape, and it got tiresome after a while. the melody's always in the same range, it's almost always represented the same way with only minor changes until the very last time, it always has the same chords, and while the backing drums do mix it up and do some neat stuff, the rest of the arrangement feels like it's missing some development. i liked the concept of the quieter sections to help give the band sound punch when it comes back, but in my opinion the first break comes too late (feels like it should be at least 30s earlier in the mix), and the transitions in and out of each section are very abrupt. the energy management feels lacking as a result. some transitional elements would help a lot to manage that, as would giving those transitions a bit of time to breathe. i think you've got some really interesting ideas here, and there's obviously a lot of craft that's gone into the drum work especially. a set of backing elements that more closely fits the soundscape, some more intentional and careful transitions, and more attention paid throughout to making the melody line unique and different each time it's played (via instrumentation, lfo on the synths, altered chord work, more personalization, changing ranges...) would really move the needle on this one. as it is right now, it feels like you're close but not there yet. NO

For the Tetris Attack / Panel de Pon album project. When reviewing the Tetris Attack / Panel de Pon soundtrack, this track immediately stood out as a bop. Of all the tracks, it resonated with me the most as a drummer. I already loved the original drum part, so it felt like the perfect choice for the "drum kit" highlight on the album. I started with a basic arrangement, honing in on the drums. To emphasize their presence in the remix, I decided to feature both an acoustic and electronic kit—using ML Drums for the acoustic elements and crafting my own electronic kit from chip drum samples and sound effects. After several iterations of the drum parts, I asked @paradiddlesjosh for feedback on MIDI programming and articulation, refining the feel to make it as realistic as possible. With the drum tracks starting to lock in, I moved to refining the rest of the arrangement around them. The energy felt a bit one-note, so I experimented with softer, dreamier sections to add contrast and break up the loop. This also gave me a chance to explore different drum textures and the full range of a kit. Once everything was in place, I fine-tuned the mix to really make the drum parts shine, with valuable feedback from members of the OCR community. Games & Sources Game: Panel de Pon / Tetris Attack Song: Lip's theme / Demo

opens with a very percussive electric and some bass, and a SUPER loud drumset comes in right away. drums have a ton of room sound and the bass and guitar have virtually no room sound, so that's a little confusing. the chord progression from the original starts at about 0:19, and the melodic content comes in at 0:33. there's a bit of a transition at 1:12, and we get a recap with a bit more personalization. there's several fills (the timbales especially) that are used repeatedly and it's very obvious quickly. 1:55 is a break section, and there's some interesting bits and bobs in this section as it builds back up. 2:21's a great recap, probably one of my favorite parts of the track. there's a lot of fun stuff going on, and more personalization in this section than anywhere else. a short outro and it's done. this one's showing its age a bit - the repeated transitional elements like the timbales, the trash can snare, and the rigid quant despite it being a backbeat style all definitely are noticeable. but i think there's some charm in this one that isn't immediately obvious - there's a lot of creativity in the melodic approach especially near the end, and i really like the overall shape of the track and how it gets where it's trying to go. the natural feel of most tracks from this OST is just so genuine, and you don't get in the way of that. i think this is probably over the bar, especially given that we can't correct some of the nitpicks i called out. YES

Is there, like, a statute of limitations on incredibly old tracks? If so I apologize for wasting your time. So yeah I don't actually know why I never sent in this back in the day. Felt weird to send two songs from the same OCR album, I guess? That's a stupid reason lol. Anyway, I'm getting back into the swing of things after a really long dry spell and figured I'd toss this one out there. It's a reggae dub version of the file s-e-l-e-c-t theme which is itself just a take on the classic Mario theme. And I'll be damned but I actually have a wave file from the distant past! That's good cuz there's a zero percent chance I could open the project now without a ton of missing VSTs. All in all, is this a low-effort way to get the Argle name back out there? Who can say? Games & Sources Super Mario RPG - Let's Try

This is the first section of my Zelda series Sky Themes Medley, featuring Steven Higbee (ocarinas, clarinet, bass clarinet), Gamer of the Winds (alto flute, flute, piccolo), and Brooke Ferd (flute, oboe, english horn). I also plan to compose a fourth medley for the fire themes - I'll be sure to hit up these artists for that one too! Games & Sources 0:00 Ballad of Gales (WW) 0:16 Title (WW) 1:54 Wind's Requiem (WW) 2:03 Sheikah Tower (BotW) 3:32 Wind Temple Phase 1 (TotK) 4:47 Wind Temple (WW) 6:06 Palace of Winds (MC) Wind Waker - Ballad of Gales Wind Waker - Title Wind Waker - Wind's Requiem Breath of the Wild - Sheikah Tower Tears of the Kingdom - Wind Temple Phase 1 (proph note: i believe this is 0:00-1:30) Wind Waker - Wind Temple Minish Cap - Palace of Winds

opens with some muted pads and some snippets of the melody. the beat comes in at 0:27 and it's overwhelmingly loud - i can't hear anything but the loop and the arp synth that doesn't appear to be matching the chords. the first break is at 0:56, and it's more of a drop and build than a break. the following drum beat is again way louder than everything, and it's again fairly repetitive. 1:32 is the next drop, and i'm noticing we haven't really actually seen any melodic material by this point - there's a few very simple bloops and blurbs that might sound adjacent to some of the melodic material, but i haven't heard anything that actually states the melody. there's another way over-loud drum section - very close to 0:27's section - one more break and build cycle, and then a last big shout chorus that's more of a hardstyle feel. from an overarching perspective, while this roughly follows the original's chord structure, i heard nothing of the original's melodic or harmonic elements. so that's a no there. separately, the balance in each section is way, way off - you could easily turn all of the percussion down by half, bring your overall volume up, and the drums would still be really big and punchy and probably too loud. this one needs some workshopping to balance out the parts and inject more of the original into the track. i like the idea - the original's very chill, so a big dancey version would be really fun! - but what's here isn't it yet. NO

what an artist name. ~3db headroom. big drum opening, and we're right into the meat. i like the harmony on the lead on the first ascending riff. the backing parts are mostly mush and i can't really hear rhythms, but they're nothing wrong that i can hear. i'm appreciating the personalization of the lead especially - lots of vibrato and grace notes, the attention is nice. 1:14's a new chord progression and i like the changes, as well as clearer rhythm in the backing parts. this section is a recap of the main melody line a second time, but there's a lot changed from the first time which is nice. we shift into The Required Acoustic Guitar Break for a bit, and i like the backing elements and the overall tone of the guitar here a lot. we don't spend much time there, as it's quickly back to screaming guitars on the main melodic riff in a big build (on the big bridge?). 3:28's a solo section with a nice prep, and there's a lot of technical ability showcased. 3:55's rhythmic breakdown is nice as a quick shift before getting back to faster stuff. there's an arp at 4:13 that's hip but it's hard in the right ear and i wouldn't have minded it being a bit more centerline to avoid it being so focused and loud there. there's a build into the last bit, and it's done (with a hard cut at the end which doesn't make much sense). this is a blast! everyone's covered this tune, so it's nice having one that spends some more time exploring it. the master's pretty heavy and it can be hard to hear some backing elements, but i honestly didn't mind as the total package is over the bar for me. it's big and loud and fun and i like it a lot. the ending needs to be fixed - figure out what you want to do and get rid of the hard cutoff (extend it a second and fade it? let the cymbal ring?), and it's good by me. CONDITIONAL (on fixing the last few seconds) edit 3/19: PANJ supplied an updated version with a false ending and another 45s of material! because that's what you expect from princess al and their nuclear jamboree. the ending is at 110% for the entire thing now, and it doesn't end on a hard cutoff, so it's good by me. YES edit 9/30: if it's AI, it's a NO, so that's that.

opening is indeed adjacent but not quite the same as the intro. that ascending string riff into the melody line is pretty recognizable though! 7/8 for 0:29 is a revelation, i love that change - it emphasizes the already heavily rhythmic approach of the original. i liked the backing feel of the solo especially, and felt that was very Metropolis in feel at least initially. 1:46's new chord progression made a lot of sense and sounds great, especially when it gets harmonized. i wouldn't have minded a bit of vibrato on the lead guitar for a few of these sustains. 2:37's transition was surprising but does make some sense based on how the Terran campaign's music works. the sustains on the initial keys made it sound a bit cheesy, but it quickly settles into a better feel. this section overall feels a little less baked - the bass guitar is kind of far in the back and hard to hear, some of the synths are a little thin, the texture at 3:07 is fine but the lead's pretty light. i liked the solo line over it, especially starting at 3:30. 3:36's transition and backing parts are a bit on autopilot in the drums, and the guitar isn't quite as big as i'd have expected for this section, but i like the transition into the 4:07 section, and that section does a great job of providing some different textures that we haven't really felt. there's a jump into 4:22 as the tempo picks up, and then there's an outro section recapping the 7/8 section from before. what a fun arrangement overall! the track is so obviously Starcraft that it was very easy to grab onto the arrangement elements and just enjoy the total package. from a mix perspective, my biggest complaint is that i felt that the drums lacked some punch throughout. i would have liked a more present kit, i think, and a more dense kick especially. but the track still rocks and this is absolutely not a dealbreaker. excellent work exploring a classic track. YES

opens with a big wall of sound and quickly gets down to business with solo sortie. the melody comes in at 0:27, and it's pretty hard to hear initially as it's pretty low in the range. there's some compression artifacts at 0:55 from the snare to my ear. some nice changes in the drums and backing rhythm at 1:08. whatever gating is on the guitar initially at 1:36 is a bit weird. the transition at 1:43 is a slam transition but it works pretty well considering how counterattack '91 starts. and it's off to the races very soon. this is another very straightforward adaptation - just once through, and then it's onto the fish track. as wet as a fish is a nice break from the initial beat - lots of sustains, and when it does come back in, it's got a half-time feel that functions as a nice break from the wall of sound. submerging titan is where the track goes back to normal time, but i admit this transition was too sudden for me. i'd rather have had more time to get into it before hitting the initial riff. and before we really even get a chance to ingest this, we're onto labyrinth. the transition here again is sudden but works because of both tracks keying off of a complex riff to mark what they're doing. speaking of complex, the creature track hits with the opening riff, and then goes to town on a more complex drum pattern initially. i appreciated that you spent more time on this one, although i'd have preferred that you personalize some of the melodic work a bit more given that this is mostly straight out of the original. there's another slam transition to the next zone track, and i'd have loved to hear the keys match better to the previous track so the transition wasn't so obvious. i'd also have loved to hear this expanded a touch since it's so sudden and then it's done. i'm on the fence about this one, honestly! it's a big rocking track and i like the variety of drum and guitar grooves brought to the party, and there's a lot of intentionality in how you chose what tracks led to what to fit them together. the track sounds big and in your face, and i like how aggressive it in in several sections. i don't however like at all how brief some of the cameos are, nor do i like how fast some of the transitions are. i can't hear a bass essentially anywhere in the track, and i don't like that the same synth is used for the lead throughout, and similarly i don't like that it's so rote from a melodic representation standpoint. i think i'm going to come down on the side of a no vote here. if you took a bit more time in some of the more abrupt transitions, if the ending wasn't so tacked-on and was more integrated/fleshed out after 6 minutes of rock, and if there was more personalization in the melodic representation, this would be an instant yes. as it is, i think it's just too medleyish without much of you in the arrangement. NO

opens with some moving clarinet, and that moving line quickly passes between each part. this unfortunately highlights the difficulty in chamber music that's remote - it's so hard to truly pass off lines like this in an even fashion, although you do a decent job here. 0:35's sustains are a nice change. the repeated notes under those sustains really needed more intentional dynamics in the performance. there's another recap of the moving lines moving around with 'pizz' underneath them, and this sounded similar to the opening but voiced differently. there's a few obvious mistakes in the bassoon line at 1:22, although admittedly that's a tough range. i really liked the passing-off of the phrasing at 1:27. the following section has some more counterpoint which is nice. i'd have loved to hear even more interweaving of parts here, and especially some more dimensionality - spreading out the ranges a bit to fill in the chords instead of having everything so tight would have really added space. the chorale section at 2:09 is another space i'd have loved to hear with more range on the parts. shifting to ensemble articulation at 2:23 was really nice too. i wasn't as big a fan of the subsequent silence in the sax solo - it loses some energy and then tries to get right back into it, and loses something in the process. there's some more consistently moving counterpoint for a few more seconds, and then we get one last chord and it's done. from an execution standpoint, the arrangement is overall really solid. i appreciated the contextual changes between the articulated elements and the more sustained sections. there's enough repetition of concepts to hold onto without being overly repetitive, and there's a nice payoff at 2:09 with the chorale (although i'd have liked to hear more range explored on the instruments there). from a performance standpoint, i found the alto to be both too present in the mix and too sharp a tone as compared to the other instruments - a touch of EQ to tone down the edge on it would have really helped it mesh better with the other instruments. intonation across the board is fine but not stellar, and timing is pretty darn good considering the recording method. i think this is definitely a good representation of the medium and the original. performance is pretty good considering it wasn't done in-person and the arrangement has a lot of good contrast. nice work. YES

This is a medley of most of the main stage themes and boss battle theme from Super R-Type. Not everything is included, but it's most of the tracks. Recorded, mixed and mastered by me. Games & Sources 0:00 - 1:42 --- Solo Sortie 1:43 - 2:23 --- Counterattack '91 2:24 - 3:08 --- As Wet As A Fish 3:09 - 3:52 --- A Submerging Titan 3:53 - 4:37 --- Dream Of A Labyrinth 4:38 - 6:10 --- Return Of The Creature 5:55 to 6:12 --- To The Next Zone

opens with some very defined percussive elements and some vox samples. the snare tone is a unique one. there's a lot of space in this opening. 0:16 brings in the hats and some chordal elements. there's a bit of original cribbing and then it's off to what sounds like a tracked guitar or synth right away for a bit of noodling around the melodic minor scale. 1:03 is a filtered section, feels very next-door. we get the main tonal center back at 1:18 and there's continuing to be a lot of exploration of the minor key but not much direct adaptation of the original. the first few bars are used in this section at 1:18, expanded out to fit the time signature, but it's honestly hard to recognize anything else. by 2:15ish everything sounds very much like we've heard it before, as well. for example, 2:22 is a straight copy from 1:18, and 2:37 is a copy of the section that starts at 1:18. there's a b section that starts at 2:52 and is initially more of a chorale - it's nice to get something new for a bit! this quickly transitions back to the original groove, and there's some crunchy notes as part of this layering doesn't quite line up. the track also just stops at the end of a snippet that was used earlier in the song. elephant in the room: i don't think this has enough source. the repeated Ab-G pattern in the chords is only present in the opening of the original in a non-counterpoint fashion, and that's honestly the main bit i catch here - and that's a pretty common progression. the high descending line apes the second measure of the original's chorus, and there's some sections that sound like they're straight from the original as-is (0:27 for example). i'd consider the lead at 0:31 to be adapting the first few verses of the original as well. i would consider 0:27-0:42, the backing parts at 0:47-1:00, backing at 1:24-1:46 and 1:50-2:19, and that's probably it. that's less than 90s overall so that's under 50%. i get if someone wants to use the chord progression, but given that so little of it is used and it's not particularly unique, i'm not really there. most of the main melodic concepts you'd hang your hat on in this arrangement are noodles and just exploration of the key, not actually from the original. separately, like i mentioned, there's a lot of repetition. you've got at almost 30s that's straight cribbed out from an earlier part, and there's not a lot to differentiate the individual sections aside from that. the ideas are cool! i don't think they're developed enough. the track really needs a true B section that then recapitulates back to the original idea to keep it moving, or else it needs like 45s taken from the duration. there's also a lot of opportunity to relate back more source to flesh out the arrangement itself. NO

This haunting tune has been on my mind since '92. It appears in exactly one place, a single room you don't need to be in for more than a minute or two - but I'd often linger just to listen. Had to make an arrangement of it for my newest album of video game remixes - it was, in fact, the whole reason I decided to embark on the project. Hope you enjoy! Games & Sources Game: Zelda: A Link to the Past Source: Church (aka Sanctuary) YT:

opens with sfx and a lush bed of synths and guitar strums. there's a funky note at 0:28 for an instant that's pretty noticeable. big build with percussive elements into 0:39, and the lead's variances are a nice callback to the particularly funky first chord of the original and how iconic that warble is. that lead is exploring the initial arpeggio from the original without the echo on it. bass sounds a touch stilted on some attacks in this area, particularly at 0:59 for about the next ten seconds. percussion in here is surprisingly high up in the freq range too, it's noisier than i'd expect given the rich, dense background and how sustained everything is. there's a break at 0:59 and there's some exploration of the chord progression, and subsequently a recording from Genesis - and then we get the big bang (sorry!!!) at 1:42 when everything comes in. this is still focusing primarily on the arpeggio section and not on the 'chorus' from the original or the b theme. there's another drop at 2:23 for sfx, and then a big blow at 3:03 (love that tom fill!). a great guitar solo to soar over the top of the framework that's been put down so far. this is definitely the highlight of the track. the falling action after is primarily focused around sfx, and that becomes the primary sound until the end. so my main concern here is the volume of original content. i hear some easy correlations at 0:39-0:59 and 1:42-2:22, but i'm missing other obvious correlations that may be represented in the chords. i'll check with emu for a breakdown since i'm out of time to do it myself right now. ? edit 3/6: i don't hear the opening chords mapping to 0:08. i don't hear a backing arp at 0:20. i had already accounted for the synth at 0:39. at 1:00, it sounds like you're stating that the descending maj7 arpeggios are from the main arp theme, and i see where that's coming from, so i'm ok with that. i don't hear the chiptune arp at 1:20 at all. 1:42 i already accounted for. 2:42 i don't correlate or hear at all. 3:03 i still don't hear either. i don't hear a chiptune synth at 3:43. that 80/267. so that's a no-go unless i'm using the wrong file or something - i don't hear most of these at all even on repeated listens. NO edit 3/7: the section at 0:20 is clear isolated, but it doesn't actually sound pitched in-situ. it sounds percussive. so i still won't count that, because there's no point where i can pick it out as being pitched. if it was louder, i could probably hear the pitches, and then be able to count it. the first time i can hear the pitches is for about 2s at 3:53. i'm willing to assume that i'm missing the opening chords due to the detuning in the original - i'd have a hard time mapping them by hand now as it is. however, even if i counted this, i'm still not to 50% - i'm at 112/267. the backing on the solo is a bit too much of a stretch for me given i can't really hear any of it. i think this is still a no =/ if someone else wants to point out some other correlation i'm missing, great - but this not close enough right now. i think it'd be easy to find 20s here and there if emu wanted to adjust something, and then it'd be good for me, but as it is, no. edit 4/22: updated mix sounds a ton better in general, but also brings the main clicky arp way more forward so i can find it a lot easier. this allays my concerns about source usage while also dealing with a few nits in the levels that i had before. this is good enough for me. fourth listen's the charm, i guess! YES

oh, look, a goofball arrangement! i wonder whose idea this is...oh, right. opens with a nice flourish and some crocodile isle in a major key to start off, with some announcer noise in the background. the cheesy choir and accordion right after are hilariously on-point in style. i wouldn't have minded a bit more clarity there there. the switch to 3 at 1:29 complete with the same cricket sfx that we've all used for two decades was excellent. the bad onions line and what followed is unintelligible unfortunately. we goofball our way through a few more themes, have some more announcer nonsense, and some boat sfx that unsurprisingly sounds like flatulence to end it off. this isn't perfect but it's absolutely good enough. it's goofy, which mirrors a lot of elements in the games, and it does a fun job of exploring different themes while aping a culturally relevant theme park ride. nice work. YES

The Chase sounds like something out of FFXII. Mad Luca just sounds like nonsense randomizer stuff. opens with some vox and heavy bass. dnb percs and bass woobles come in fairly quickly. there's some melody from The Chase here, and the feel is more filtered and restrained initially. 0:48 continues to be a rising build, and there's some fun filtering work in here. i admit i kept asking "where's the drop?!", and then when we hit it, it's the Mad Luca theme. that wasn't quite the payoff i wanted! the synth choice for the source content is pretty weak and so i felt it lost a lot of drive here. it noodled through the Luca theme, and we get something a bit more beat-driven to hang onto at 1:35. except not, because this continues to noodle all over. from an energy management perspective, this section goes on for way too long...but finally does get back to the The Chase at about 2:27 (i liked the Chase rising line in the background right before this). the mix trucks through The Chase's melodic material, and there's a lot of variety in the instrumentation and ways that it's being represented, which i like. there's a big drop at 3:24 (literally), and the beat drives alongside some vox for a short while before it's done. i think that the dnb sections of this are really well-handled. there's a lot of variety in what's playing, the feel is energetic and never quite delivers on the payoff, which is a neat concept. i think the Mad Luca section is at least twice as long as it should be from an overall song perspective - like, we get it, you can do weird time signatures in a style defined by 4x4, but you never asked if you should do weird time signatures in a style defined by 4x4. lastly i found the ending a little too disconnected from the main body of the work. i get the concept of using a different timbre as an outro/ending section, but think it should be closer to the bass falloff - like, having it playing by 3:30 i think would feel better (having the hats playing behind the bass falloff) to help string those together. i think the mix sounds really solid, and the automation on the drums throughout is impressive. i just don't get throwing away all the goodwill generated in the first minute plus to wander around in randomizer town for another minute plus. NO

opens with keys, bass, and some limited drums. the keys in particular don't really speak very well and it's hard to hear what they're doing. everything's pretty slammed - especially the bass and kick are causing other instruments like the cymbals to distort audibly. melodic material comes in at 0:34. same drums from the intro are underneath. this trucks along through the A and B themes (the more smooth melody and the arpeggiated section), there's some fills and new patterns at 1:43 which is nice, although the instrumentation is staying the same here. at 2:08 the first drum groove is back, and the honestly the feel here is pretty hip with whatever the plectral instrument is behind the keys. the drums are just so bland. melody comes back at 2:43 way up high - this would have been a perfect chance to mix up the lead with something else. it goes through the melody the same that the last several passes have done, which feels tiresome at this point. the mix goes through the same A/B pattern that second time, there's a bridge-like section that i can't hear what the melodic material is, and then that bridge section turns out to be the outro and repeats several times copy-paste style until a fadeout occurs. this has some moments! there's definitely a fun feel to it in several spots. right now the mix is really blown and hard to hear, so that's a problem. and separately, the arrangement has some nice bits, but overall it's the same thing twice through and then an outro. i'd like to hear some use of dynamics (ie. breaks in the beat), a more logical song form, and less repetition. NO

Some time last year Ronald Poe was noodling on a remix of The Chase, and that conversation made me think about how fun (read: ridiculous) it would be to mash up that song, which plays during the Luca Blight group boss battle fights, with Mad Luca, which plays during your 1:1 duel with Luca Blight, one of the main villains of Suikoden II. Luca Blight is the prince who slaughters a brigade of his own child soldiers, blaming it on a neighboring kingdom as an excuse to break a peace treaty. He only gets worse from there, personally slaughtering innocents by the hundreds and laughing about it. I wanted to arrange something that showcases his evil. Musically, I was inspired by artists like Sub Focus and Camo & Krooked. The Chase is a banger and felt like it lended itself to drum & bass, but Mad Luca is just absolute musical insanity. (Appropriately, given the character.) MIDI of The Chase existed, but as far as I could tell, nobody had attempted to transcribed Mad Luca before. I was in luck, however; I suggested it on 8BMT's patreon and he included it in a video on Odd Time Signatures, which meant he also made the transcription available to subscribers. (I'd recommend watching the videos, it's a really good breakdown of the source.) The cacophony of time signature changes made the idea of trying to do a really integrated mashup complicated, so I opted to use Mad Luca for the break, trying to show Luca Blight's descent into madness through the arrangement. Then I circled back to the B section of The Chase to bring it all home. It's not an entirely traditional arrangement because the break is more of a mental breakdown, but I think it provides the necessary whiplash to express just how bananas Luca Blight is. As always, thanks to the great community in #workshop on Discord for their reviews and critiques. Games & Sources Game: Suikoden II Composer: Miki Higashino 🔹 🔹 🔹 The Chase: 0:00 – 1:11, 2:28 – end, with some motifs sprinkled through the middle section 🔹 🔹 🔹 Mad Luca: 1:11 – 2:28

this reminds me of something i'd hear on echoes. i don't think it makes sense to do a timing walkthrough on this, so i'll summarize. the timbral expansion here is significant and reflective of other heavily adapted arrangements we've had in the past. i appreciated the use of the entire sound stage throughout, and the willingness to explore elements that in general we don't see explored (mostly timing elements, a 180-degree soundstage, and some phase concepts). i agree with chimpa that the arrangement is fine and we don't need timestamps - in fact, had the chords been altogether different but consisting of the same pattern and roughly the same function, i'd still have said it was OK. i think that this is an excellent example of a style that we don't see near enough, given the volume of ambient/non-melodic tracks on popular soundtracks. i would have loved even more messiness and exploration in the first half, to be honest. but what's here is great and i appreciate it a lot. YES

4+db of headroom. opens with some very verb-heavy strings and piano. the piano appears to be playing the harpsichord part directly, and the cello and vin initially mirror the melody line before fleshing out a bit of harmony. it goes right into the B theme, and adds choir at 1:20. this is appropriately subtle when it's added. the arrangement opens up at 1:27 which is nice, and i like the additional windchimes and subsequent wind instruments. it trucks through the A and B theme again and then it's done. to my ear, the original plays throughout in the piano (or very close to it). there's certainly some additional orchestration, and tbh the choir elements are tastefully done. i think my main issue here is that there's very little H36T in the arrangement. layering in some additional parts is nice, and the counterpoint in several sections is pretty. i don't however get the vibe that this is ever more than the original. in comparing to some other orchestrated/choral arrangements (Rebecca's stuff for example), there's far more time spent in part-writing and making there be more than just the original driving it. the lack of dynamics in most spots (there's some orchestral crescendos, but very little individual dynamics, and the keys sound like there's zero velocity adjustments on them) combined with the solo instruments not being particularly realistic doesn't help either. i think if the first eighty seconds weren't so close to the original, this would be a borderline pass for me. as it is, the opening's just too close to the original, and the overall form is very rigid and straight out of the original as well. for something so simple in its approach, i'd want to hear more flexibility and depth of arrangement than what's represented here. getting away from the original midi in the piano would be a big help there, and expanding your tonal vocabulary with altered chords, modified phrasing, personalization of the melody line, and dynamics to give the natural shape of the melody more verve would help immensely. NO

Hey there, I am back after some time away from the community. This track was made quite some time ago but was unfinished before I left for the ether of a salaryman's life. I think I was looking for inspiration before deciding to become active again and while appreciating the Tokyo skyline, I heard this song and it reminded me of some characters, as well as some details about their lives and the trauma they went through. A line from a character in the game during when this song is played killed me. So I had to finish the job. I'm not sure what Nobuo wanted to capture in this song but...whatever it was, I think he finished the job too. As far as what I wanted to capture, well, I remember Hemo or someone commenting that they liked it but maybe felt it could have more in the middle and end. Originally after the beginning it was all choir and piano. I found it tough to add to honestly because whatever I did always felt like it was suffocating the song rather than breathing life into it. I think I both found what felt right both instrumentation wise and balance. Still not perfect, especially in terms of automation and the like but I learned a lot about balancing different solo instruments competing for space and time. Especially with such a big verby, ethereal sound coming from the choir and piano. I like how it ended up and while I think this is overall conservative, the adornments add a ton of character that makes it, to my ears, stand on its own as opposed to a cover. As I've learned so far in my journey here, not everything needs to be avant garde. Anywho, I'm always here to learn more so I am curious what others have to say. Until next time. Games & Sources Final Fantasy VII - Other Side of the Mountain

my last vote centered around the oppressive feel of the mix and the limited sound palette, as well as some of the extended sections with a minimal amount of stuff going on. opens with some nice creepy arps and some woobly pads around the lavender town arpeggio. melody is there right away in some lower synths, and there's some sfx and a slow build into when it all hits at 0:56. the kick and bass have more punch this time than the last time i listened. the melody is carried by a distorted synth that feels kind of bland initially. there's a break with just some bass and snare at the 1:33 mark, and then another build (very similar but not quite to the first one) into a big bass triplet/gallop section. the track still feels kind of empty through here as it's primarily [bass and drums] and [arp] and [lead], and there aren't really a lot of other things to fill up the middle of the soundscape. there's a big style change at 2:25, led by a new bass groove, but it only lasts a few seconds. the subsequent break has a lot more body to it than it did the first time around, and the build has a lot more verve. i'd have liked a different kick fill than the last two. 3:13 is back to a similar feel as before - and, most damningly, it continues to use the same five or six elements. it's the same reversed arp tone, the same sweeps, the same lead tone, and the same bass riff as what started at 2:25. there's only so far you can stretch the same few things, no matter how much rhythmic variation you give each element - it really just sounds like you're alternating previous loops. 4:15 brings back the rising aleatoric sound with some heavily gated pad synths carrying the melody, but they're hard to hear. there's some subtractive elements for the ending, and it's done. it again cuts off hard instead of having a true fade. i think that, from a mastering perspective, this is a lot more listenable now. it's still loud and aggressive, and that makes sense from a stylistic perspective. my issue is that at no point does it actually feel upbeat and intense. all of the lead choices are very bland, and the lack of variety of sound choices behind those leads really makes it feel very rinse and repeat. separately, there's rarely a time where i feel the soundscape is filled out - i'm pretty sure there are pads going, but i rarely can tell they're there, and there's such a huge divide between the high arp sound (that never ever goes away) and the bass/kit that it's hard to connect them. i do think it's possible to use five instruments over a five-minute song and make it work. this track isn't doing that - there's enough variety in what's being said, but who's saying it becomes stale quickly. if you trim back some of the repetition (this track could probably be 3.5 minutes max pretty easily), and then focus on more intently crafting your soundscape and your lead choices especially, i think you'd have a much stronger track overall. NO