OCR01267 - *YES* Final Fantasy 9 'Hunter's Community Chest'

[djpretzel]

Ok. I put alot of work into this one. There are no orchestral sounding instruments in this piece..... now you know!! That way you won't be dissapointed when they don't show up. I love Uematsu to death, though I have no qualms about semi-butchering this song because there is already another remix of it on the site [Hunter's Etude: Scherzo] which definitely pays more respect to the original than this one does. Though like I said I love the original. Hopefully noone will be offended by the R&B type reharminization of the bridge, it definitely does not convey a sense of urgency. Enough with this disclaimer already.

[at the very top of the page you will see a link that says "Remix of song from FF9"]

[Liontamer]

I'm all for the liberal mixes. All for 'em. I'd prefer to YES this. But the energy on this was sedate and dry. The whole time.

Even if others don't have a problem with it, it pretty much kept this one from coming outta the gate, IMO.

Care to bring a bit more oomph/presence into this, Sam? Interesting ideas, definitely. As it is now though, it just kinda chugs along...and keeps on chuggin'...yep.

NO (resubmit)

[Protricity]

What is going on here?

I'm just confused now.

NO

Get better at making a more solid song.

[danny B]

If there's ever been an example of a remix transceding sound quality, this is it. This is easily one of the most inspiring and impressive arrangements i've ever heard on this panel. Mind warping, and yet at the same time refreshingly familiar. Excellent percussion work, very interesting harmonic alterations, and consistently impressive synth programming.

The humble beginning suggests a low quality, standard fruity loops jingle. But what follows is oh so much more. Eschewing the conventional ABA-based formula for electronica, the mix transcends genres while keeping a firm foot in a solid, funky electronica vibe. The sound quality feels somewhat lo-fi, but this is a rare occurence where it seems like the lo-fi sound was an intentional product and not a culprit of lazy mixing. It's only a positive aspect, in my mind.

The very beginning synthwork is a subdued wah'ed line that very adeptly transmogrifies into the Hunter's melody. Once that rockin' main melody kicks in, some very abstract yet perfectly-suited ep chords back it up. I'm drooling over these chords. Great work. The mix then takes a surprising turn and plays through a minimal iteration of the main theme, before delving into a polyrhthmic drum feature that exhibits advanced knowledge of the drum kit. Then, the crazy bass synth launches into an atonal, chaotic run that smoothly transitions to a chilled out, jazzy section. The chordwork here is nothing short of beautiful. The utilization of the modified original melody with the new chord structure makes it seem fresh yet at the same time familiar. Suddenly, it plunges into a mean, minor-keyed motif. Very good use of key change to advance the song along. Following this section, sheer chaos erupts. I'm not sure how keen I am on some of these rhythmic discomboblations, but it generally works well enough to segue into the conclusion.

Again using a methodical build-up to acheive a poignant musical statement, the conclusion is not over-the-top, and it isn't a ho-hum affair. It captures the mood of the piece in but a few bars and helps to wrap the whole thing up.

Excellent synthwork, adept percussion usage, and a more original harmonic rearrangement than this judge has ever seen in his tenure.

YES

[GrayLightning]

I do see what liontamer was saying about this mix's sedate pacing. I was going to initially no this, but after more listens this is too bizarre and too interesting to no.

The beginning starts out quite bizarrely with the lo-fi processing - not the mix's strong point. Additionally there are several sections of the mix that defy convention and perhaps words. I have no doubt people will be scratching heads over this one.

What swings this for me though is the very different, but cool arrangement of the theme. It's chaotic, confusing yet it still works.

Production is decent or subdecent.

Shnabubula continues making some pretty wierd but neat stuff. This definitely isn't for everyone, but the arrangement is too good to decline. It bears repeated listenings to really appreciate this unique mix.

Borderline Yes.

[Protricity]

What is going on here?

I'm just confused now.

NO

Get better at making a more solid song.

Gave it a few more listens. I still dont know what the hell you guys are talking about. Sounds pretty terrible to me. I've heard better sound quality from cellphones. My vote aint changing.

[danny B]

Maybe a better review than "make a more solid song" would quantify your opinion.

[Protricity]

Sure.

Basically, I'm hearing a very very low quality song. Everything has a low-bitrate encoding sound to it. Lots of lossy drums and flanged instruments. Furthermore, the whole intro sounds terrible with these low fi drumloop things playing all over at awkward rythms. Later on when the ride comes in, things get far more relevant. I can hear skill put into the percussion, but it doesnt change the fact that the whole song sounds like it was made solely using 5kb instrument wave samples. There are many awkward sections that do not appear to have relevance to anything at all. 1:00-2:00 has sorta cool percussion, but a great deal of random cellphone-beep synth work. Rhodes are nice, but they, just like everything else, sounds like they are 5khz wave files with a great deal of encoding loss. Later on there is nothing that is even somewhat impressive enough to justify the terrible, terrible, terrible soundquality this song has from beginning to end.

Normally I'll give more detailed and lengthy decisions if I feel the song has a chance at making it or if I feel the artist needs to know something in perticular. In this case, I think the aurthor knows exactly what hes doing, but needs to drastically, significantly upgrade the sound quality of this song for me to pass it.

[Malcos]

Now it's obvious to me that the mixer here knows what he's doing, but will the rest of oc? I know, I know, who gives a shit what they think, but this could spark off some major bitching.

My decision is based on the fact that, while I think that this is an innovative mix, perhaps it's just a bit much to ask the general oc'ers to swallow.

(Edit: Removed the no, see below.)

[Protricity]

I don't think thats a good reason to reject a song.

[Liontamer]

I don't think thats a good reason to reject a song.

Yeah, need more than that to explain why this doesn't cut it.

[Vig]

Now it's obvious to me that the mixer here knows what he's doing, but will the rest of oc? I know, I know, who gives a shit what they think, but this could spark off some major bitching.

My decision is based on the fact that, while I think that this is an innovative mix, perhaps it's just a bit much to ask the general oc'ers to swallow.

NO

that's a ridiculous and terrible reason to reject a song. if you follow that logic, we have no purpose at all, and OCR should simply become a democracy. This isnt VGMix. Reconsider your vote or at least give a reason for it.

[GrayLightning]

I think malcos really wants to vote YES. Go for it buddy.

[Vig]

I really wish the bass in the beginning and the drums didnt have that low-fi effect, i think it detracts from the mix. moreso on the drums.

the mix itself is very creative, and better executed than i think i could have done it. to have such a chaotic mishmash of ideas is not easy to execute in a way that doesnt sound like a three-year-old hitting buttons. with that in mind, this is done quite well in this mix. it sounds like the sequencer goes in and out of sanity, there are segments of seeminly forced reason, broken periodically by the inner virus, as insanity takes over and everything goes haywire. i think the drums are sequenced very well, i wish it didnt have that lo-fi sound.

you're damn right a lot of OCR listeners wont swallow this, but that's why we are voting on it and not K-Wix and OMGTEkNoFAn69696969.

YES

[Malcos]

Oh fuck it. I wanted to vote yes anyway.

YES

[DarkeSword]

Wow very trippy. Very chaotic in the beginning, but it manages to keep a balance throughout the piece. Hard to do, but pulled off quite nicely. The part at 2:00 is where it really comes together for me. Very groovy, even if only for a little while. The rest of the song has some great stuff going on in terms of synthwork. Nice.

Like my co-worker Audrey would say, this song is 'ka-RAY-zeee.'

YES

[Digital Coma]

I want to quickly note that this mix showcases a lot of skill in its application of the completely bizarre, but the filtering and general low-fi EQ is tiring.

[Protricity]

And I want to quickly not that I still feel this song is drastically below the bar. I don't object to it being posted or anything, but I just wonder how hard it would have been to up the quality of this song a bit. Not too much work I think. I believe more focus should be placed on trying to get the authors to improve minor problems with their songs that could easily have been fixed. This is gonna be on ocr for a long time.

Furthermore, I feel that decisions like the one malcos gave in this song should not be considered until they are rewritten as real reviews. If I had figured this song really stood any chance of being passed (I'm still rather suprised) then I certainly would have been more detailed in my first review. It appears that this thread has 5 yesses, so it looks as if by chance or deliberate action malcos's incomplete decision wasn't really considered which is good.

[Liontamer]

I agree with Ari on both points. Certainly flesh out the votes on mixes that are disputed. "It's too weird for the public" doesn't work. In any case, while I'm a legit fan of Sam's work, I definitely felt this was way below the bar as opposed to borderline. I'm no production whore, but I'll admit, like Prot, I'm surprised this passed given how flat the delivery on this was, and though likely intentional, I didn't feel as though it was a positive contribution for the mix. I think if we got a resubmit, this would turn out much better. Of course the arrangement was great and was something I felt was over the bar. I'm not sure where Binnie would have voted, but it looks unofficially like a 5Y/3N. Not my cup of tea, and it won't be for many others, but this one should spark some interesting debate amongst the listeners in the ReView thread, which is certainly a positive thing for a music community like this one.

[DarkeSword]

I thought the intentional lo-finess was a nice change. The point I want to make is that while this sounds lo-fi starting up, it still has a very clean, balanced sound. It's lo-fi, but not MUFFLED like a lot of submissions we get. I think it's part of the charm. Deceptive in the beginning, of course, but ultimately effective.