prophetik music   Judges ⚖️

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

loads of sound design and sfx clips to start. a beat starts to surface at 0:27, and the rhythmic foundation for the original N64 track can be heard in the patterns being played here - an interesting idea. there are steadily more melodic elements added in until we get to the break at ~1:02, and then 1:21 is where we start hearing more of the melodic material again. there's some alternations in here, and notably the choice of notes at 1:40 and 1:47.5 are a half-step off of the key (should prob be Eb-F instead of D-E to avoid the D-Ab tritone)). this is real intense for the most part and a toe-tapper of a section. i really like the super-heavy electro bass through all this. a mid-range element is added around 2:04 that feels a little too much and makes it a touch too dense, but overall this is a neat section. the melody coming in as a break near the end of it is a good glue section. between that initial part and the deconstruction that happens after, around 2:30.
we get a wildly unexpected stylistic transition at 2:58 into...i guess hindi trap? the bassline here is really fun. this noodles quite a bit but is recognizable. there's another unexpected break before a short exploration of the opening few bars of the venom stabs, which morphs into a more brickwalled intense section of venom's stab section. there's way too much going on here and it's hard to hear any one thing, but i guess that's fitting for the style. the ending's a bit of a letdown after that level of intensity, but it's a fine ending and wraps the track.
this is a surprisingly straightforward arrangement of the venom theme, for the most part. there's some really wild exploratory sections that probably could have been integrated better with more patience applied to the transitions, but what's here is interesting and approachable.
 
 
YES
edit 9/15: listening again with some of the context from subsequent votes. wake and chimpa are right - this is so very hot when compared to other edm. i didn't notice how much the high mids especially were pushing on my ears until i came in fresh. cosigning their votes.
NO

opens with a significant unpitched swoop that builds to an initial wash of colors and theme. the melodic material that comes in after 0:30 is nicely patient and doesn't rely on percussive elements to move forward, which is a nice change. the beat hits at 0:59 and is a nice vibe. the 808 conga sound that repeats at the end of every bar sticks out a bit to me, but i really like some of the other elements, like the wobbly vibes used for the melodic material here.
there's a fun choppy transition at 1:57, and the following section is pretty obfuscated. there's some melody in there but it's really hard to hear, might be actually too quiet. the transition at 2:26 is unexpected, but the feel after is really fun - the glidey trumpet lead here with the heavy kick is a really interesting combination. 
2:57 is a significant drop - there's like 30s of noodles here before it gets back to more than one thing in the texture. i'm surprised how much i didn't mind the dropoff, actually - i really expected to find it to be too long of nothing going on, but the patience again won me over. i would have minded if it was louder though, as the dynamic contrast is pretty huge. harmonizing the glider synth is a really clever idea to ramp it up a touch.
big build into 4:03, and we get another low-key driving beat here (now with chippy arps). the toms that come in around 4:32 were a little forward and out of the texture for me (and the hats that came after felt really loud). once everything came together and we had the actual full beat together at 5:02, it felt better, but i still felt the hats were a touch loud. there's some building elements through this until we get another shift that winds up being the last. i felt that the more unpitched ending - basically everything after 6:00 - to be a bit of a let-down after you'd successfully built so many other clever textures throughout that tied so well to the original. it didn't feel as connected to the rest of the piece as most of the other things you'd done throughout.
overall this is a really interesting ride. there's a ton of maturity in the textures you're building here, as expected, and the mix is super tight to help make it all pop. there's a few things i wish had gone differently, but as a whole i think this is superb.
 
 
YES

opens with some heavily filtered arpeggiated elements and pads, and some really ringy vocals. the big hit at 0:31 reminds me of another remixer's penchant for huge transitional synths. there's some trancey keys doing the arpeggio and eventual melody line, although they're not particularly idiomatic. i found the wide spacey synth with the long delay on the attack to be a little too fast for how slow it was, but i liked the vibe for sure. there's a big transitional element into 1:39, and there's some really wild sound design here that's fun. i appreciate that it never quite settles down to a normal - it's constantly changing and evolving. 2:10's a hard drop in style, and the keys here sound like they're releasing early which is interesting. the lack of sustain compared to earlier feels is unsettling.
another big build into 2:44, and there's a particularly filthy bassline synth that i really like here. there's also a lot of rumble which i'm not as big a fan of. the lead here is outrageously mean and over-the-top extreme, and the transitions are all really janky, so this is very intense. 3:30's long falling action functions as a great palate-cleanser to that intensity, and we hear the docks come back much clearer this time around. the sfx in here on the vocal clips is enough that i couldn't tell at all what was going on in them. i don't know if that was intentional or not. the piano in here is a little too high and piercing for me, and combined with the overtones from the vocal clips, this was kind of uncomfortable to listen.
we finally reach the third section, and it's a much more straightforward, heavy feel. most of this didn't seem to be clearly able to be mapped to the original in any way, but there was some clear intentionality at 5:11, and later when the keys come in at 5:41. the intensity of the drums especially is nuts through this whole section. i found myself liking the setting more than everything that the lead was playing - especially initially, that low bend sounded nowhere near the key that was being played.
5:41's a significant falling action, and this is clearly the end of the road here. there's some sfx to end it, and we're done.
what a ride! this is so broad from start to finish, showing a ton of versatility and stylistic influences. i certainly don't think it's perfect, but what a broad spectrum of approaches and concepts. i certainly don't know of another DDD concept that comes at the original from so many different directions. it's easy to nitpick something so broad, so i'll just say that i really enjoyed it, there's more than enough source for it to count, and the perspective here is intense. nice work.
 
 
YES

track is hard-limited to -2dba and has some visible waveform clipping.
opens with some very verby elements - piano, muted guitar, and electric guitar in octaves. lot of panning. a huge, heavy beat comes in at 0:39 and it clips pretty hard there. there's some other pad elements but everything feels so loud that i can't really hear what's going on. at 1:01, the texture thins out again, and there's some neat little bell elements.
we get a transition into 1:35 where the melody's in the voice. there's a very loud, low piano part that's unfortunately causing more clipping here. the kick comes back in at 2:08 and exacerbates the clipping and distortion that's going on. it's unfortunate because what's here - the piano swimming in reverb, various lead elements, the bells - sounds really cool, but it's just very crunchy in a way that doesn't sound intentional.
there's an outro flourish and it's done.
most of your elements are not EQ'd at all, to my ear. at the very least, you're going to want to apply an EQ to each instrument that cuts unwanted frequencies. right now several instruments are pushing sound below 40hz, and it's causing everything to sound cluttered and muddy. turning everything down overall and then ensuring that instruments aren't transmitting in ranges you don't want them will help a lot. you have several competing instruments in the low range as well - stripping that back a bit will also help.
this is a really, really cool arrangement, and i love the approach especially in your lead choices between the guitar and voice. if we can clean up the unintentional clipping, this could be really stellar.
 
 
NO

will need a new name if it passes. the file name implies the name is "Surfacing Again", maybe that's it.
opens with a filtered synth that opens up over time as guitar and choir elements are added over time. the guitar initially sounds really sketchy but i like the tone once it opens up a bit. the beat drops at 0:44 and the feel is much different at this point - the transition here is very surprising. the snare sounds overly filtered, like it's in another room, and the kit as a whole doesn't sound like it's in the same room as the melodic elements. i like how tight the kit is though, especially with a funkier feel from the lead synth.
there's a transitional section with the drums on autopilot, and we get some interestingly modified chant elements before we get a new melodic section at 1:53 with a 404 bass doing some fun things. this section is pretty empty - there's not a lot going on in the background behind the lead for most of it, and it makes it hard to focus on the melody since the other elements are in the foreground as a result. separately, at this point the drums have been doing the same pattern for nearly two minutes, and it becomes painfully obvious when there's nothing else there to distract.
there's another chant break before we get a recap of 0:43 at 3:05. this sounds very similar to the first time around - it's not quite copypasta, but it's pretty close outside of a few tertiary elements. by around 3:23 i assumed it was going to start wrapping, but it went through the A melodic theme a second time (this is straight copy from 3:05), then did it two more times with a rising synth added each time. that's a lot of repetition. the build at the end of the fourth time through was nice though, i liked the guitar element coming in.
there's a hard drop after the fourth time through and a bit of bass element as an outro.
i think this is a fun track overall! i really like the vibe of the main chorus that you initially show at 0:43. i think it could definitely use some more variation in how that's presented each time, since you're using it so often, and i think also having fewer choruses at the end would help prevent it from feeling samey. speaking of samey - the drums need a lot of variation added. what's here now is obviously a loop very quickly. some attention to ensure that they're in the 'same' airspace as the rest of the instruments would help too - right now the reverbs are very different and it makes it clear they're not in the same place. lastly, i think that identifying a way to make some of the sections called out above to be less empty would help too.
i think this definitely has legs! i think the workshop on the forums or discord would be a great way to dress up some more elements here.
 
 
NO

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

as always, thank you for a clear source breakdown.
opening starts with the title theme with a variety of transitional sweeps layered in. we start to get a beat at 0:36 and it picks up from there. this entire opening section feels pretty dull with the instrument choices - there's not much sparkle in any of them for them all being EP-like, and the kick is kind of blah - but we get some pop at 0:54 when the melody comes in. i love the time signature goofiness - the 7/8 section is absolutely the right choice there.
1:27 tones it back down again. there's a surprising amount of sustains that kind of just sit there (really expected to hear some blurbs to keep it moving through that), and the overall texture is still pretty dull outside of the sweeps. i felt like that past the 2 minute mark until about 2:10 when we started getting more percussive elements coming in and more brighter synths, and then again was in a happy place at 2:25 with the melodic material back in. this trucks through the melody of both tracks, and then it's done. the ending is a little abrupt but fits the style.
this track does a fantastic job of saying "wait just a bit longer for the part you want", and then it's there and it's great, and then the track's done and i'm putting it on again. this is a great compositional technique - always repeat one less time rather than one extra time! - and when the track pops, it really pops. i think you do a great job taking a track that's kind of already in your style and making it unique and yours without copying what made it good originally. nice work.
 
 
YES

Breaking news: that old mixdown sucked. @XPRTNovice@Chimpazilla@Liontamer@prophetik music or whoever, I updated the first post with a new re-mix and master in addition to changing out the synth sound that Brad was having a hard time hearing (it was there but it was all click and no tail, so I can see why it wasn't audible.)

your journey sounds significant, meaningful, and life-changing. i'm glad you're in a better place now.
opens with a filtered flourish and some pretty wild sfx, and the track starts at about 0:27. there's a really chillout vibe to this initially. i like the choice to use detuned synths to fit the spacey feel. beat hits at 1:39 and there's all sorts of fun ear stuff going on. there's a lot of higher freqs that were a little much for my ears - mostly overtones, but the cymbals and snare both felt really bright. there's a pretty wild solo at about the 2:27 mark, and we finally get a break from the pretty thick beat at 3:15. there's some new percs that come in soon after - the contrast between the fairly clean percussion and the heavily filtered backing pad is distinct but a fun combination.
we get some new stuff at 4:03, as there's some new ear candy in the build up to 4:27 and then to 4:36, and the increase in energy at 4:36 is great. you do a great job keeping a fairly static melodic line fresh and interesting through several minutes of consistent usage.
there's a recap at 5:20 of the earlier vibe with some extra bits on top, and then we hit the outro material. a few pads after the 6 minute mark and it's done.
this is a great arrangement! there's loads of unique stuff to keep it moving throughout. i think that i personally found the 2-3khz content in this to be bothersome on my headphones, but i don't think i'd have the same feel on other listening methods. i really appreciate the breadth of content throughout. nice work.
 
 
YES

when this came up ~18 months ago, i voted on this with primary criticisms being the balancing, frequency overload in the low mids, and the arrangement feeling meandering due to lack of dynamics.
opens with the ghost castle arp and a ton of really fun sfx work. some very industrial stuff is going on pretty far away, and the title screen's surprisingly chromatic melodic line comes in at 0:29. it's neat how well that works among a very spare background. the riff at 0:47 goes on for a long time and gets a little tiresome fairly quickly (that synth's delay effect was cool in small doses but is irritating with longer lines, especially since it's in one ear hard).
percussion drops a bit going into the textural shift at 1:16 - there's some new drums here as well, which are pretty hard to hear (especially the kick). the aquaduct arpeggio with the delay effect is back in the right ear and it's way louder than everything else. it gets toned back later which is good. this continues to wander around with the aquaduct theme in the front for a while. i found this section to be lacking in direction still.
there's a simplification at 2:07 alongside a time signature shift, and we're back to just the kitchen sink effects alongside the ghost castle theme for a bit. this section is neat with some of the counterpoint between the melody and counterpoint, but it feels underbaked both because of how thin it is here as compared to the drums chiming merrily along, as well as because it's the same synths as most of the rest of the song at roughly the same volume. it's hard to pull out that this is more or less important than other sections. i still find the transition at 2:37 confusing as well - it really sounds like the song suddenly ends, and there's no real prep or anything set up to come out of it either.
the synth work immediately following that break featured a few shifts that i found made it easier to pick out what was the most important. the texture here also feels more fleshed out. i didn't like that the lead instruments for this section were mostly in the right ear instead of centered. there's some fun stutter effects on the leads later on also that i liked. 
i don't think my opinion on this has changed yet. i still don't like the weird cut at 2:37, i still think the middle third drags, and i still think the lack of dynamics is a negative throughout. i don't remember the panned lead instruments before, but i find that to be irritating as well (i found myself turning my head regularly to the right to 'hear' the lead better) - in fact i think the piece is over-panned throughout.
from an arrangement standpoint, i think that you would be well-served by being more intentional bringing out the melodic lines you're trying to have us trace. you've got three sources, and tbh i think they work really well next to each other, but with that comes an imperative to be very intentional about how you emphasize and define what's where without losing the general song-form structure that you're using. the story here isn't as clear as it should be, and a big part of that is that the natural ebb and flow of a track isn't here due to there being little dynamics. i'm fine with a track that doesn't have a clear melody, but what is melody should be cohesive and readily apparent, and that's not happening here right now.
i do think you've fixed the mix a lot - i remember before the bass being totally overwhelming above everything else, and then all your instruments were very tightly mashed against each other. i think the bass is probably a bit overcorrected, but overall i found the mix to be passable aside from the panning stuff. my concerns are mainly with the song form and arrangement elements.
i have a lot to say here and it probably sounds like i hate it. i don't! i think there's some really neat concepts here, and a lot of overlapping back-and-forth stuff that reminds me a lot of old-school remixes that i loved. i just...i got done with the full listen a few times and just didn't remember a thing that happened in the middle of the piece outside of that panned synth being so annoying. that's not a good thing given the interconnected nature of this remix. the track doesn't go anywhere for an extended period of time. i actually think this is a fairly straightforward fix - just cutting some cruft out of the middle and emphasizing your melody more via non-delayed leads is probably enough.
 
 
NO

opens with some wide synths. the kick rhythm is a little confusing as there's no beat here to hang your hat on, so it's not clear where the down beat is initially. the melody comes in at 0:24, and you're right, it is questionable. polytonality is a technique i recognize, but it really doesn't work here - it just sounds off-key outright.
0:49 is where the track seems to be more settled. there's a recap of the beginning with some low synth blurbs at 1:13, and those synths kind of step on each other since they're all in the same freq range. the beat picks up at 1:38 and this has a pretty neat vibe once it gets trucking. i'll admit i don't really hear the original in this section.
2:27's lead synth doesn't really make a ton of sense to the rest of what's going on around this section, and it's so highly embellished i definitely wouldn't have caught that it's a reference to the opening without calling it out. right after the main riff here, the track just continues hammering that one note for a pretty long time without significant adds. the melody comes back finally - again, pretty heavily ornamented - and then gets some weird notes around the 3:28 point before the track is suddenly done.
so right off the bat - i think that the arrangement has legs. you've got some really creative concept work behind each part of the track (to be honest, probably too much - if a book is needed to understand a 4-minute piece, you're not doing enough as the arranger). there's a lot of padding that can be trimmed, and you need to work on transitions and the opening sections so that they're approachable and understandable.
that said, the instrumentation isn't close to being there. if this is supposed to be using some retro sound chip, ok, but evaluating this as a pickup piece of music, the audio quality isn't up to par. there's buckets of free stuff that's better across the board out there, and separately there's a lot of mixology you can do to get better sounds out of the instruments you're choosing.
i think that some serious time in the workshop discord would help a ton on this, and i think that some time spent finding ways to get better sound quality from all of your instruments is helpful too. you can do nostalgic with real synths and make it sound like a modern song still.
 
 
NO

i YES'd this last time but noted a few elements that i wasn't into.
i still think the opening kick is too boomy (this might be a headphone adequacy issue here, there's a ton of subbass there). i still like all the interplay between the elements. there's less low-mid density which is nice. the outro's kind of all over the place, and without the backing elements the shamisen loses some luster. overall it's still a noodly melody that isn't for everyone, and there's still a lot of static and that's not my favorite backing element. but i like the complexity and find the creativity to be evident in a lot of places. this is still a pass to me.
 
 
YES

original's pretty upbeat in its own right.
opening is very similar to the original, right down to the drum beat, tempo, and lead performance. this goes on for quite a while - i A/B'd the entire length of the original on this track and indeed it's the same across the board. so this already isn't something that we'd really have a place for given the lack of original arrangement over the first half of the track.
right at 2:00 we get a new section, which is clearly inspired by but isn't really arranging the original. it's a sick synth solo though! i'd like to hear more verb on it, it's pretty dry right now. guitar has a note or two that's funky in the chord that it's over, and then hits a fun chord at 2:47 before a hard cut break to the piano playing the melodic material (in a non-idiomatic way, you really should find ways to break up the left hand's block chords and velocitize the entire thing). there's another run-through the original's last section and opening, and it's done. ending is solid.
i think this is a fun listen! i'd be happy to find this on youtube somewhere, but it doesn't meet the standards for arrangement that we require here. this is more of a cover with a little new section in the middle, which is hip in and of itself, but we'd expect more adaptation of the original's melody, chords, or other elements. i don't think this track would fit here without extensive modifications, but maybe future arrangements would fit more! take a look at the submissions standards i linked above (section 4 is the big one for you, the rest aren't as applicable for this) and hopefully we'll hear from you again.
 
 
NO

boy those pads in the original are noisy.
opens with a heavily modified voice clip and some swelling noise pads. we start to get the chord structure outlined at 0:48 in the plectral bell instrument. there's a lot of sound design going on in the build that starts at 1:10 - it's mega buzzy, but there's some really neat sweeping concepts coming in there as it gets bigger and bigger. percussion doesn't have much in the way of body in this build. 1:28 it starts to feel like it's arrived and the bass switches to a more consistent rhythm. bass elements in here are pretty dense and overpopulated so it's hard to really feel a beat. there's also not really that much that's the original in this entire first two minutes that's not just the chord structure.
we get a big shift at 1:47 in timbre. bass element has a ton of wooble on it so it's hard to really hear what it's playing. the timbre shifts again significantly at 2:25, including more trance hats and a big snare alongside some more heavily automated synths. i hear the first melody that i've heard in the entire thing at 2:35 in the low synth element - lots of movement on that tone which is neat. it's immediately buried under the ascending line that comes in right after that. we do get a bit more at 3:03 before another big shift to the sax. the stuff in the lower octave is a bit blatty but this setting works well for lucas's tone. i like the duet section as well as doubling his lines with the synth. the sax lines are heavily modified but do outline the melodic material roughly - it's pretty transformed however. the chorale section near the end around the 4:00 mark is a neat idea to layer into this - logical progression to get there but also very different from most tracks in a similar style.
there's some gameboy stuff and then an outro with sfx.
overall i think the first third is heavily disassociated with the rest of the track. everything before about 1:47 really feels like a totally different track other than the chord progression. i also wasn't really feeling the initial section at 1:47 - the bass is so hard to understand what it's doing due to all of the pitch modulation on it, and there's so many bass instruments that it all just gets lost. once we're through all that, the track really starts to find identity once it starts to get melodic material around 2:30. from there on out, i think there's a lot more cohesiveness in the approach and you scope through a bunch of different timbres without losing the voice. so i do think that more work is needing to be done on the first two plus minutes to tie it all together more. i believe that not bringing the melodic material in until well after two minutes in is part of this - you need a common thread to tie it together, and the ascending scalar riff you use mostly in the middle of the track doesn't seem to be enough.
to be clear - there's not 50% source usage in this track. i am not going to count a four-bar descending chord structure as source, it's too common of a progression. i hear melody at least occasionally between 2:35-2:55, 3:04-3:33, 4:12-4:24, and 4:33-4:52 (78 out of ~304 seconds, 26%). i'd consider additional connections between 2:35 and 4:52 if i was feeling really stretchy and positive, but most of this is chord-based and not melodic or motivic. to pass, i'd want to hear at least one clear declaration of the melodic material earlier in the track. if you'd submitted just from 2:35 onward, i might consider that enough source, as a rough example.
overall i also hear a ton of conflict in the lower ranges. there's a lot going on next to one another all the way through the freq spectrum, but especially down in the bass elements. i think this is a lot closer for a first shot than most of your tracks have been! but it's still not there yet.
to recap - EQing, cohesiveness, melody usage.
 
 
NO

my previous vote on this primarily focused around the mastering issues and that there wasn't enough unique perspective on each track (ie. the focus was more on the original's positives instead of the arrangement's positives). i don't remember how the piece sounded though, it was too long ago.
opens with filtered arps coming in - i like the wind sounds coming in here. the bass comes in with a martial feel around 0:12, and i think that the lead and countermelodic instrument have some nice movement on them. i can hear the schala arp behind it too which is a fun precursor. drums and other stuff that comes in at 0:36 is also neat. the hornet-adjacent lead add is a neat idea - having it have such a short sustain is a positive so it doesn't take up the entire soundscape. there's some subtle gating that starts 0:53 that i think is intentional and not limiter pumping - if so it should be a bit more obvious so that it's clear it's not unintentional. it's a cool effect.
there's a break right at the 1:00 minute mark that functions as a nice dovetail. schala theme comes in at 1:18. the beat here is nice and reminiscent of the ethnic percs that are throughout CT's soundtrack, and the constant varying of elements helps the slower tempo and schala's slower pace of the melody. there's another cool transition involving gating, and we're into some VO stuff.
2:30 is the return of the Terra b theme, this section felt a little lacking in direction. i didn't like all of the countermelodic elements (some are not quite voiced well enough to feel normal), and the turbo-pan thing going on was a little much on headphones. i also felt it was lacking energy coming out of the VO break, at least partially because the bass was often not on the root. 3:03 brings back schala (and the iconic ascending harp scale) - initially pretty low energy still, but quickly escalating via a variety of percussive and synth elements. i don't know if stacking the bass with the melody works in this section, but it's an interesting change.
after this is the outro, which wanders a bit through the schala arp until it hits the final notes, and then it's done.
this is a vast improvement over the last version. there's a ton of variety and added content here from when i last heard it, and the mix is a lot better too. i think it lacks a bit of energy in the back half and wanders a bit more, but i love the feel of the first half and the overall track does a great job navigating these two monumental originals. great work.
 
 
YES

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

opens with a kick-heavy beat and pads. there's a lot going on in the bottom 100hz and it doesn't have a ton of punch like i'd expect, and is somewhat dull. a synth bass comes in (in the same octave as the pad), and this progresses towards a break at 0:39 that adds some arps. there's some nice automation on the autopanned arp that works towards the front, although the panning is so wide it's a little confusing on headphones. this section drags a touch as it goes on as not a lot is going on during it, and there's not a lot to bring it back to the original outside that descending bassline (which isn't super unique).
the remixer puts the screws in at 1:16 and we get a lot more going on and a big beat right there. again there's not a lot used from the original outside that initial descending lick (no arp, none of the actual melody line). there's another break with some guitar at 1:55 - that was pretty fast getting back to the build - and again this section feels like it drags a bit as it kind of just is a repeated pattern over and over, and there's no crescendo or anything to build energy, just adding new instruments after a few bars. i'd love to hear some more automation like what you had the first time around, adding in additional elements and building energy towards your big payoff chorus at 2:33.
2:33 hits and we get the solo that was called out in the writeup. there's some fun licks in here but overall i'd want to hear more movement and leaning into the chords themselves some more. there's some repetition in here too which is a bummer - this is your time to shine creatively!
there's not really an ending, it just hits a note and it's done. there's a loud blap at the end that i think is the result of your volume automation not going to the end of the track.
this is a neat idea! i like the synth-rock vibe - so many people just make lavender town creepy (or totally blasted-out EDM), so the darkwave/synth rock feel is a neat one that definitely has legs. and i like a lot of your choices for instrumentation. i feel like right now this is a great framework, and what's needed next is some more glam. i'd love to hear more from the actual lavender town original (there's only really one synth line used throughout the track - i think there's room to use more!), and i'd love to hear a lot more ear candy in each section - especially the transitions. lastly i think that the track sounds a bit dull throughout, and finding a way to keep the kick meaty without having it walk all over some of your other synth elements would really help the mix pop. i'm sure @Chimpazilla can give some suggestions about the mix.
this isn't there yet! but it's a great start. the workshop discord can definitely help this get moving.
 
 
NO

In the shadows, we stay busy. ;-)
Joining us as a Sage, we now have @Treyt, who's shown off a lot of skills, enthusiasm, and potential since his fateful forum post nearly three years ago!
We're proud to announce some staff promotions with the twin magic of Sages @pixelseph & @paradiddlesjosh stepping up to become two of our newest judges! We had some fun internally joking that they were a package deal, yet I'm happy to say they both independantly have done well and proven themselves capable to help us out in this new capacity on the panel!
We've also honored to have another judges panel addition in @jnWake, who cut his teeth in OCR way back and has massively grown since becoming a Dwelling of Duels regular! All three of the new judges should help us NO every VGM arrangement submitted to us with more speed, politeness, and class. ;-D
Be sure to use our resources in the Workshop forums and our #workshop Discord channel and you may just get some feedback from our new staffers!

hemo, emu, and myself were involved with this. i was specifically only involved with the lining up and processing of the vocal parts and one fifteen-second section on sax, so it's not like i was doing a lot of arranging or mastering myself. i'm comfortable approaching this from a critic's perspective and not as a contributor given that i came into the project as late as i did.
i'll note that almost every element was performed live.
opens with a very cinematic pop, then we get some beautifully performed harp. the choir parts are imo too quiet and don't come through the mix well (this is partially on the performers not having developed formants and partially due to mix imo). 0:50 gives us the 'impending doom' section from the original, and the build into 1:25 is super exciting and intense. the horn riff right after is really great too, but is a bit overused in several other areas of the song immediately following that rhythmic pattern. 1:49's recap of the chorus section is nice and intense, but i felt this section didn't have enough beef in the bass to really feel as powerful as it could have.
there's a transition to the bridge section at 2:19, and this is nice and light as a contrast. it gets a little messy from an auditory standpoint at about 2:47 (i think the guitars aren't quite as light on their feet as they could be here, and the distortion hangs a bit). there's an even lighter section with some oboe at 3:03 - the vibrato on the oboe isn't super clear and would have been great if it could have been wider and have some more body to it.
some rising action at 3:18 that eventually includes some voices. this section was a little earth kid-heavy and that's actually probably my fault for not reining in her power notes a bit. i really liked the section at 4:02 - both the voices and in the very charismatic background elements throughout. we get some guitars at 4:33 - this entrance sounds super dope. i wish that the choir behind this was fuller as well, especially in the lower voices, to support it more.
there's some insanity right after this in the backing parts, and the choir here sounds really full so that's great. we also finally get the big sephiroth chant that we've all wanted! aeroprism's voice really pops here imo and sounds fantastic. there's some really nice flute flourishes in this section too. this is, like, 90 seconds solid of just incredible stuff. easily my favorite section.
there's a big build starting at 6:45. most of the men's voices here are hard to hear (this is again a formant thing), which is a bummer as that section took a while to line up. i believe aeroprism's voice here relative to the other men is too loud (or maybe they're all too quiet?), but again that's on me as the guy that handled the vox blend. there's a huge orchestral build through here and that feels great. we get one last big chord and it's done, outside of some sfx at the very end.
this is outrageous and enormous and a wild undertaking. i get that some people are fatigued with the theme being The Video Game Orchestra Track, but the execution here is tremendous. for the most part, each section in this track is represented in a similar way that other arrangements of this original have used, but the technical proficiency, performance scope, and the way everything fits together isn't like any other representation of this theme i've ever heard. it's truly impressive. easily the best arrangement of this track i've heard since the FF7 project and Black Wing Metamorphosis (17.5 years ago!!!). i have nitpicks but nothing of substance. excellent work.
 
 
YES

hemo, emu, and myself were involved with this. i was specifically only involved with the lining up and processing of the vocal parts and one fifteen-second section on sax, so it's not like i was doing a lot of arranging or mastering myself. i'm comfortable approaching this from a critic's perspective and not as a contributor given that i came into the project as late as i did.
i'll note that almost every element was performed live.
opens with a very cinematic pop, then we get some beautifully performed harp. the choir parts are imo too quiet and don't come through the mix well (this is partially on the performers not having developed formants and partially due to mix imo). 0:50 gives us the 'impending doom' section from the original, and the build into 1:25 is super exciting and intense. the horn riff right after is really great too, but is a bit overused in several other areas of the song immediately following that rhythmic pattern. 1:49's recap of the chorus section is nice and intense, but i felt this section didn't have enough beef in the bass to really feel as powerful as it could have.
there's a transition to the bridge section at 2:19, and this is nice and light as a contrast. it gets a little messy from an auditory standpoint at about 2:47 (i think the guitars aren't quite as light on their feet as they could be here, and the distortion hangs a bit). there's an even lighter section with some oboe at 3:03 - the vibrato on the oboe isn't super clear and would have been great if it could have been wider and have some more body to it.
some rising action at 3:18 that eventually includes some voices. this section was a little earth kid-heavy and that's actually probably my fault for not reining in her power notes a bit. i really liked the section at 4:02 - both the voices and in the very charismatic background elements throughout. we get some guitars at 4:33 - this entrance sounds super dope. i wish that the choir behind this was fuller as well, especially in the lower voices, to support it more.
there's some insanity right after this in the backing parts, and the choir here sounds really full so that's great. we also finally get the big sephiroth chant that we've all wanted! aeroprism's voice really pops here imo and sounds fantastic. there's some really nice flute flourishes in this section too. this is, like, 90 seconds solid of just incredible stuff. easily my favorite section.
there's a big build starting at 6:45. most of the men's voices here are hard to hear (this is again a formant thing), which is a bummer as that section took a while to line up. i believe aeroprism's voice here relative to the other men is too loud (or maybe they're all too quiet?), but again that's on me as the guy that handled the vox blend. there's a huge orchestral build through here and that feels great. we get one last big chord and it's done, outside of some sfx at the very end.
this is outrageous and enormous and a wild undertaking. i get that some people are fatigued with the theme being The Video Game Orchestra Track, but the execution here is tremendous. for the most part, each section in this track is represented in a similar way that other arrangements of this original have used, but the technical proficiency, performance scope, and the way everything fits together isn't like any other representation of this theme i've ever heard. it's truly impressive. easily the best arrangement of this track i've heard since the FF7 project and Black Wing Metamorphosis (17.5 years ago!!!). i have nitpicks but nothing of substance. excellent work.
 
 
YES

opens with some great EPs and organ. there's a really organic feel to this due to the timing being pretty loose initially. i'd recognize that chapman anywhere - one of my favorite sounds in Trillian! - and some fun bell elements. we get a beat at 0:43 and the melodic material to the fore. this is a really deep, low representation of the chorus material which is fun. there's a point at 0:58 where the melody is on an A and the bassline is on a Db, which is a little weird-sounding but is supported by the chord structure.
there's a break right at 1:05 to recap the opening a bit. the sweeps through here are really nice. this builds up through some fun flute-adjacent noodles to the melody again at 1:49. i like the shift at 2:11 to a more upbeat feel as well, as we'd kind of done the other stuff for a while now. there's again some funky chord structures at 2:19 - i'm not going to analyze them since they sound roughly correct to my ear, but they're funny as a transitional element! 
we get through some original material as a transitional element. there's a half-time groove here that i didn't see coming but really like, and it builds into 3:15 where we get some taikos or toms alongside the main melodic snippet. this floats through a bit more of that snippet and then it's done.
what a fun track! there's all sorts of interesting ear candy going on in here as i listen. you do a great job taking a fun and straightforward original and exploring some really varied elements.
 
 
YES

i don't figure out eligibility, i just do music stuff, so i'll let someone else handle if this counts. at least the video is cute.
opens with a very Outer Wilds-esque guitar arpeggio and some beautiful live instrumentation alongside sfx. maclaine's voice is superb for this, the tone is just perfect. if anything i think there's too much going on behind her voice - i don't want to listen to the (admittedly awesome) other stuff, her voice is too good. i can't speak to the pronunciation (no pun intended) but the text sounds like it's very comfortable and the language doesn't get in the way of anything. we get some percs at 0:57, and the backing elements continue to be excellent.
there's a break at 1:20. the vin right away there is a touch out of tune but fixes it quickly afterwards as part of that lovely rising line. 1:48 starts the second verse, and we get back into a more simple rhythmic backing part. some drums at 2:13 kick the second chorus, suitably understated while still playing something worth listening to.
another break at 2:42 for the start of the bridge section. i appreciate the space added to this section, it really adds some contrast to the very busy verses. i also appreciate that there's a lot of time given throughout, it feels like you're adding some bars in different places with how patient it is, and i like that. vocal riff at 3:29 is great. 3:40 starts some more distinct solo sections - lead guitar tone is perfect, sounds great. 4:20 is the recap of the chorus - if anything i wish that maclaine's voice is a touch more focused and intense here to fit the backing elements, but it still sounds great.
there's a ton of falling action after this chorus. this was a good opportunity to mix up the chords under the vocal line imo, but what's here is fine. 5:13's got some really subtle piano lines. i actually didn't care much at all for the descending chromatic line in the plectral instrument there (pretty sure it's guitar), but it settled down nicely so that's great.
this is outrageous and i can't believe it's going to be available for free. the care throughout the arrangement to constantly identify individual little bits to highlight at every second is just astounding. the performances are excellent and the vision is grand and inviting. excellent work.
 
 
YES

This song marks my first non-OCR project entry and my debut in Dwelling of Duels (DoD)! Participating in DoD was a super nerve-wracking experience, right up until the month's long-play, where I was utterly flattered by the community's response. While most of the track came together quickly, I spent a significant amount of time fine-tuning, with the final drop and cinematic/foley aspects coming together only in the last few weeks. I was unsure how the crowd would respond to a more Trap-based drop, especially since I rarely venture out of my typical EDM styles. Needless to say, I was blown away, not only by how well it was received, but also by the fact that it placed 5th for the month. It was truly an honor to participate, and the light-competition framework kept me glued to the process, in a way that made me feel like I really leveled up my production quality...that said, let’s ignore the fact that the live MIDI recordings were performed using my typing keyboard (special thanks to extra-clicky green switches). I wish I could point to a direct set of song references for most of the track, but most everything was pretty much from my gut instincts, except for the final drop, which was strongly guided by RL Grime's "Formula".
Making a full-length submission entirely on my own and having it so well-regarded was incredible, but it’s amazing what a solid mastering from Chimpazilla can do to your track. Her work took it to another level, and she was super insightful with coaching on actionable feedback on the track; I am so grateful it gets to exist the way it does via their efforts on it. That, and they're just a super cool human being, it has been great to get to know them recently!
The track wasn’t written with a specific theme in mind, but looking back, it feels like it tells a story similar to Pikmin’s—one of loss, rediscovery, and rebuilding. Over the past few years, I’ve experienced significant losses and challenges, which resonate with Olimar’s crash-landing into the unknown and starting over with only the bare essentials. The intro reflects that sentiment. If you’ve played Pikmin, you know the game can be unforgiving—you can lose a lot very quickly if you’re not careful. The track mirrors this at the midway point with the shift to Indian percussion, stripping away the Chill-Hop vibe. It also captures the feeling of regaining strength and confidence, like when your Pikmin army grows, and you feel ready to tackle any challenge. These dualities—loss and recovery—reflect my own experiences with jobs, relationships, and stability, often swinging between extremes.
The overarching note of this song is the idea of landing somewhere completely unexpected, making the best of where you’re at, and then launching forward to continue where you intended to go. This is both the main purpose of the game itself and a very real experience in my own life in multiple ways. Coming to OC Remix after years of feeling like I didn’t fit in, only to have my first submission finally accepted. Moving into a house full of strangers I thought I wanted to be around, only to realize there are better people to surround myself with. Leaving a comfortable job riddled with toxicity and non-stop lies, enduring a streak of work-related low points, only for it to lead me to finding the greatest position I’ve ever held. Losing the sanctity of proper health insurance due to an undefined medical concern, facing extreme ambiguity as new coverage claimed they couldn’t help, and then receiving a last-second approval and a benign mass diagnosis. Clinging to the stress of maintaining a half-friendship with someone who only mimed the acts of caring, only to finally let go and bask in the freedom and self-respect that followed. And so forth. Life has felt like a swinging metronome of deep losses followed by tremendously fulfilling wins. Being a part of multiple OCR projects, receiving a heavily fought-for promotion, ranking high in DoD, and navigating health coverage for various specialists have all paralleled the sentiment behind making and submitting this song, as well as the emotions imbued within it.
The source track, 'Forest of Hope', unintentionally complements this narrative. The game is set up as a series of trials to rebuild your ship, and sometimes that’s exactly what tackling music projects feels like: gathering the tools, knowledge, and confidence to succeed. If OCRemix and Dwelling of Duels are the 'Forest', then their communities are the 'Hope'.
This song is dedicated to everyone who encouraged me to settle into the OC Remix space and the DoD community, who have been so supportive and shared amazing feedback on my tracks! I’d love to list everyone, but it would be 30+ people long, so I’ll say this:
Special thanks to Wes, Chimpazilla, the (~*Super*~) Pixel Bros. + all the Workshop regulars (especially JSAblixer and Meldecision, but really everyone there), Liontamer, Hemo, Dyluck, Darkflamewolf, Xaleph, Colorado Weeks, and Prophetik, as well as so many DoD folks I still have yet to get to know better (TheManPF, Tuck, and more). Also some more indirect inspirations who probably have no idea who I am but are nonetheless inspirational forces: omega-thanks to bLiNd, PrototypeRaptor, Zircon, and Flexstyle.
Games & Sources Pikmin - Forest of Hope (entire track duration)

i don't figure out eligibility, i just do music stuff, so i'll let someone else handle if this counts. at least the video is cute.
opens with a very Outer Wilds-esque guitar arpeggio and some beautiful live instrumentation alongside sfx. maclaine's voice is superb for this, the tone is just perfect. if anything i think there's too much going on behind her voice - i don't want to listen to the (admittedly awesome) other stuff, her voice is too good. i can't speak to the pronunciation (no pun intended) but the text sounds like it's very comfortable and the language doesn't get in the way of anything. we get some percs at 0:57, and the backing elements continue to be excellent.
there's a break at 1:20. the vin right away there is a touch out of tune but fixes it quickly afterwards as part of that lovely rising line. 1:48 starts the second verse, and we get back into a more simple rhythmic backing part. some drums at 2:13 kick the second chorus, suitably understated while still playing something worth listening to.
another break at 2:42 for the start of the bridge section. i appreciate the space added to this section, it really adds some contrast to the very busy verses. i also appreciate that there's a lot of time given throughout, it feels like you're adding some bars in different places with how patient it is, and i like that. vocal riff at 3:29 is great. 3:40 starts some more distinct solo sections - lead guitar tone is perfect, sounds great. 4:20 is the recap of the chorus - if anything i wish that maclaine's voice is a touch more focused and intense here to fit the backing elements, but it still sounds great.
there's a ton of falling action after this chorus. this was a good opportunity to mix up the chords under the vocal line imo, but what's here is fine. 5:13's got some really subtle piano lines. i actually didn't care much at all for the descending chromatic line in the plectral instrument there (pretty sure it's guitar), but it settled down nicely so that's great.
this is outrageous and i can't believe it's going to be available for free. the care throughout the arrangement to constantly identify individual little bits to highlight at every second is just astounding. the performances are excellent and the vision is grand and inviting. excellent work.
 
 
YES