prophetik music

Oh hey, finally something I can help with! I've got them all - what's a good place to host them?

they sure used to! i don't know as much about more recently.
the trailer looks very interesting. i'm definitely interested in the game to the point of being willing to buy the console if it doesn't go cross-platform (at least eventually, likely not right away).

I have read the comments on the youtube, and one comment really stuck out to me that I think explains why it is so divisive, mainly relating to the philosophy of creating new arrangements of video game music.
The comment, let me find it:
So this is probably the largest difference in the way I process game music vs how I think others do, mainly in the general public who do not produce music actively (casual listeners). This isn't a right vs. wrong issue, this is really more of a perception and philosophy difference/disagreement. This is healthy and should happen in any community that isn't toxic.

For the most part, game music for me is divorced from the game it comes from. I have been told on some of my previous work (back before I had an internet presence) that "this doesn't sound like a battle theme" or similar comments. At one point I did a stripper tempo swing version of Megalovania from Undertale. It went really slow, just to play up the sleaze. For the most part, it was *destroyed* by people who heard it, almost like I committed blasphemy.
OCR is full of creative arrangements, but the whole line is accessibility. For the most part, if you did a calm, ending theme as an upbeat 80s synthwave track, nobody would really complain about it because they can relate to the style. Something much more classically oriented that's out of left field like this doesn't really give much to relate to (unless you listen to a lot of music in this style). It is kind of like listening to some avant-garde jazz and not enjoying it because you don't really listen to a lot of it and don't really "get" its nuance (I am like this with most of the more distant subgenres of metal, for example).
When I do arrangements of game music, almost always I'm trying to do one of two things, and you can hear this from the things posted on this site.

1. Have some fun with a tune I really enjoy or remember fondly, combined with writing some fun stuff to play (Cazador, Journey Never Ends, unrelated but everything I do for Materia Collective falls under this category). This usually ends up being very relatable for most people.

2. Experiment and really push myself in something I'm not familiar with, or explore a style of music I enjoy (Protoman, Reflecting Pool, As Blew the Winds). These are mainly used to develop my skills, and I really don't give much consideration to the audience or making it an way that it means anything outside of itself. This is where the disagreement lies.

So in the most sincere way possible, I REALLY don't care that the Mario fanbase wouldn't listen to this and be reminded of Mario. That wasn't the point. That wasn't even close to the point.

Oh boy, I remember this!  Sir Nuts linked me to the decision thread not long after I got added to the Judges and asked which way I'd vote on it.
Here's what I thought: once the melody started at 0:21, the source clicked for me there and then.  The harmonies and effects contributed actively towards subtractive arranging, which is heard as the main arrangement attraction.  The horn performances and manipulations were spot on, added to that textural thickness and are all cleanly placed out in the mix.
And do you know what else this track brought to mind?  It reminds me of the Tortoise section of Camille Saint-Saens's Carnival of the Animals suite.  Saint-Saens used the main melodic riff of Offenbach's "Galop Infernal" (otherwise known as the Can-Can) and slowed it down by 2.5x, while here the source is brought down to 4x its speed.  This arrangement is a more extreme case, but at the end of the day, the BGM is dominant and has an interpretation approach seldom seen around the VGM scene, period.  If I were on the panel at the time, I would've been in the Yes camp.
Nevertheless, you did boldly, and I hold mad respect to the result that popped out.  The original Super Mario Bros has tunes covered a vast number of times, but this is a sign that proves there's still room to make something unique out of it.  Nice work!

And...
The vision of the site has always been to have a big enough tent for both; we could have fewer headaches, and probably more followers, if we stuck to popular games, or genres, or gave flagrantly disproportionate emphasis to either, but then I'd have to punch myself in the head every day and die w/ regrets, etc.

just stamping this one in. i agree completely with the last three votes in that it's a great concept, and a fun arrangement, and ultimately too muddy. 2:20's intro of the choir pad is where it really goes off the rails. there's simply too much going on in the same range.
i am really looking forward to this coming back with more aural separation. that's the only thing holding it back for me. opening up your max beyond -3db and doing some grunt work with your EQ and gain will really make this an easy vote.
 
NO

you took what is essentially a 30-second loop and made a 5:15 arrangement without changing tonality, tempo, style, or significantly changing your chosen instrumentation throughout, and it isn't terribly boring. bravo. this is a stellar attempt that only falls a little short.
from the arrangement side, as others have noted, there's just too many times that you say the same thing. your attempts to mix up the instruments carrying the melody are notable, but there's only so many instruments that can carry it, and you exhausted them by halfway through. so, my suggestion is to explore other historical forms of variations. your arrangement uses some standard theme and variation forms - it's not quite a passacaglia since the bassline never really changes, but you use some of the concepts. my suggestions here are to explore some of the other historical techniques - things like changing or modifying the tonality of a section (Ive's "Variations on America"), dynamic variation (Ron Nelson's "Passacaglia on B-A-C-H" is essentially a 9-minute crescendo), or significant and systemic rhythmic variation (Mozart's "Twelve Variations on 'Ah vous dirai-je, Maman'" - Twinkle Twinkle Little Star!) really can help with taking something that feels samey and turning it on its head. as an example only and not a suggestion, i guarantee that exploring some modal harmonies - even the relative minor! - would really quickly spice up and allow a return to major (and a recap of the initial theme) to hold more water without feeling repetitious.
from a mastering side, i echo nuts in that it's simply too quiet. now, yes, i did just say that significant dynamic contrast can be good - but, this track screams for compression. well-sampled instruments that are properly velocitized can be slammed with compression and still sound like they have dynamic contrast due to the natural changes to the instrument's timbre that occurs when it's played louder. i'm not asking for some huge punchy compressor to bang the crap out of your bassline, but proper compression can really breath some life into the opening and middle sections that are quieter without altering the delicate balance you're trying to create.
this is a real good effort, as i said before. it needs a mastering pass badly, and some more attention on the arrangement side to prevent feeling like it's two minutes of content scraped over five minutes of bread. another look will really help bring this up to your more recent standards.
 
NO

Congrats! 

Congrats to both!

I want to especially give a shoutout to @prophetik music, bro. You've been around in this community for so long, contributed so much, and I know that I personally grew SO FUCKING MUCH as a musician from working with you!

We scoured the land for the most evil people we could find to join us, and we're proud to add @prophetik music and @Rexy to the judges panel.
I'm personally aiming to finally have that submissions queue go to 0 by the end of this year, and we're excited to have their help.
Revel in their fresh perspectives and presence now before they become entrenched in the system and simply become part of the evil mass of musical oppression that the rest of us have morphed into.  (a.k.a. WELCOME!)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/10w0IagDgf0OoiTx5JAc5qj9IjDBKQeTU/view?usp=sharing
Found it!  Had to do some tagging, since a couple of tracks lacked them completely for some reason, so there may be some mistakes, but I don't think it matters that much, honestly.

emphasis mine. some people never get forgotten. like me!

I can try to upload it to google drive.

looking for this too, if anyone's got it.

looking for this too, if anyone's got it.

emphasis mine. some people never get forgotten. like me!

emphasis mine. some people never get forgotten. like me!

album get!
congrats to everyone who contributed to make this such a special project. nice work everyone!

Thanks to all artists for being patient with us & trusting @prophetik music's leadership on release scheduling; we took a bit longer, yes, but the music & presentation did benefit. Very proud of this release; Arcadia Legends was amazing & you've followed it up with something amazing, and kicked off 2019 in Q1 in a *great* way.
Special shout out to @Jorito for musical AND code contributions, too, as he provided a very complete website which we only tweaked minimally... really helped. I wanted to somehow animate the caustics that were added, but ran out of time for proper implementation.
Credit to all, but extra tip of the hat to Brad for effective coordination & responsible/thoughtful direction... as with DFW & our previous album, I feel like communication was always effective & deliberation productive.
I didn't play Chrono Cross, but I've known & loved its soundtrack over the years, often through mixes featured on the site. Now I love it even more; there's an organic, passionate vein that flows through Chronopolis, but with individual tracks still distinguishing themselves stylistically & through genre. It feels diverse in form, but unified in function, and that's something I personally enjoy in an arrangement album, because it's something I *also* enjoy about many game soundtracks themselves. There are moments of awe, moments of wonder, moments of beauty, moments of joy... with each emotion expressed in a fashion that serves it quite well. Excellent stuff!

album get!
congrats to everyone who contributed to make this such a special project. nice work everyone!

album get!
congrats to everyone who contributed to make this such a special project. nice work everyone!

album get!
congrats to everyone who contributed to make this such a special project. nice work everyone!

album get!
congrats to everyone who contributed to make this such a special project. nice work everyone!

album get!
congrats to everyone who contributed to make this such a special project. nice work everyone!

album get!
congrats to everyone who contributed to make this such a special project. nice work everyone!