*NO* BeatBlox '4:51 PM CST'

[Palpable]

J-hosted sub

Remixer Name: DJ SymBiotiX

Real Name: Fernando Chorney

Website: http://www.djsbx.com

Userid: 15925

Game Arranged: BeatBlox (http://megidolaon.com/beatblox/)

Song Arranged: 4:51 PM by Jason Moses

Link to Original Song:

(You can hear the original song in this youtube video, the song starts at about 33 seconds in, it is the full and complete song)

Link to Remix: http://www.djsbx.com/SUBMIT/451PMCSTREMIX.mp3

Comments:Well, I never intended this remix to be an OCReMix, but once I realized that this was from a game I decided to submit . My idea for this song was to pretty much take it out of its element. The original is straight up chiptune, and I wanted to trancify it. The song takes the original source from a breakbeat/trance genre into a smooth melodical trancy piano genre. Most of the main melody is pretty much the same as the original, but this is because I wanted to keep that integral part of the song intact. Like I said, the main goal was to take the song out of its chiptune element, and build an entirely new soundscape around the source tune, and I think this remix does that very well. I really hope you guys enjoy it, and hope that my improvement in mixing/mastering is good enough this time

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(song starts at 0:33)

[OceansAndrew]

Nice slicing and dicing of the main melody- it makes itself known throughout, but is new and interesting in a lot of different ways. There's a lot of expansion, Builds and breaks are good, and the increased tempo and slightly mixed up beats propel this forward well. The soundscape stays pretty same throughout, but is way expanded on the original, and there is a lot of variation in the different parts, so it never feels repetitive.

The piano was waaay mechanical (especially the runs), but I know it's pretty common to the genre. Still doesn't feel great to me. I think adjusting those velocities to be more human would really strengthen this. The ending is decent, but not awesome. At least some thought was put into it.

Overall I'm conditional on this. That mechanical piano really should be smoothed out, but then again, i've heard the exact same thing from professional tracks in the genre, so there you go.

you get a yes from me, but if the other judges end up NOing it, please fix up those piano velocities.

[DragonAvenger]

I like that this is immediately recognizable to the source, but really has it's own flavor to it. Speeding things up and some good drum change-ups add a lot of energy to this. Not a lot of melodic variation, as you mentioned, but that was intentional, and it's not entirely needed with all the other additions to the soundscape going on. Nice use of moving the melodies around to keep things moving; I never felt like things were getting repetitive.

While the piano is certainly mechanical, I'm alright with it as it is. I'm taking it as more of a throwback towards the chiptune genre. Whether or not that is a good choice is probably going to be up to the individual listener, but I could go either with with it.

YES

[Palpable]

No offense to anyone who voted/votes yes on this, but I thought this was unpolished. There's nothing in particular that stands out, but a bunch of little things sink this for me. The intro runs a little too long without really building, it's roughly the same thing twice with more percussion added the second time. The lead that comes in later overpowers the backing instruments, yet still leaves a gap in the mids. I think there should have been some rebalancing there. Not to mention, the lead could be softened a little and given some expression, though that was a lesser concern.

The piano stiffness was already mentioned, I think it only really got to me in the fast runs, which were fun but too silly. There was also a part at 1:42 where it sounded like the pad didn't match the melody, that gets repeated. In the next part where the rest of the instrumentation comes in, the piano starts to get lost as a lead. That becomes an issue at the end too, where the piano and lead play simultaneously.

I don't want to give the impression that there's a lot of work here. It's the polish. A lot of these are easy-to-medium fixes that'll really improve the overall quality of the track, which is already pretty solid as an arrangement.

NO (resubmit)

[CHz]

The arrangement is alright, but it is a bit repetitive. Palp mentioned the intro, which does feel a bit long, but the break from 1:28 to 1:58 is also repeated with a few more elements on top, and the section after the solos from 2:58 to 3:26 is repeated almost verbatim. You did do a pretty good job of exploring the source, though, even though I think there's room for more variety in the writing.

The balancing could definitely use some work: as Palp mentioned, instruments get crowded out, despite room in the midrange. As far as the piano, yeah, this is electronica, so I'm not going to rage. That said, I think a lighter piano sample would help, because the current one is on the heavier side, and that makes the runs sound especially ridiculous.

Not too bad, but this one isn't all the way there quite yet.

NO (resubmit)

[Vig]

My first impression is that the groove is great, really cool and danceable. I agree that the intro is a bit long and repetitive. Rather than cut it down, I'd add some more elements or throw in some variation and keep it the same length. This criticism/suggestion continues into the verse, which sounds just like the intro with a melody.

the bridge section at 1:30 has different issues..mainly that the piano and pad textures aren't really lush enough to be sustaining the entire soundscape. The other issue at 1:40 is that the pad doesn't have a fast enough attack when you switch to the iv minor to the IV Major so the major third in the melody clashes with the pads. You really need a faster rhythm instrument to keep up with the chord changes.

then at 2:29 there's no harmonic support for the melody playing the major 6 of the key. This sticks out like a sore thumb. There are lots of little errors like this.

As far as soundscape, you could really be making better use of the stereo field. More effects, etc.

NO

but your foundation is cool. I'd keep working on it.

[Liontamer]

Not really feeling that electrosynth in there; that along with the beats sounded generic, but we'll see where it goes. Thankfully, we got a changeup at :57, because the track was dragging. Once things picked up at :59, the lead sounded shrill and the soundscape was too crowded.

The dropoff at 1:28 was pretty welcome. 0 complaints about the piano sequencing; that's purposeful and works for the genre. You can humanize that more if you think it'll improve the track, but I didn't mind the choice. Weird note at 1:41 though. Again at 1:58, when things got fuller again, you had a shrill sound upfront and the soundscape was very cramped & crowded. 2:58's section is even more of a problem when the thumping bass kick came in, and the melody sounds off-key with the piano countermelody.

Arrangement-wise, this basically get the job done. This has potential, Fernando, but the production was way too messy. The track being so crowded hurt the dynamic contrast you were going for and made the track feel unfocused. You need to get these sounds balanced properly and work out the kinks with stuff being off-key in the last section.

NO (resubmit)

[OceansAndrew]

THis has been sitting long enough- closing it.