Gario

Not bad at all, you'll be hearing an update in here before the end of the month.

I would like to mention that I now have a cat called Caligula, so it's very funny to see the review call my arrangement "Caligulan". :3

Coming in as a fresh judge on this, let's see what we've got here. Interesting source, and the arrangement changes the pace of it to sound more energetic, which is pretty cool. The arrangement is interesting for the first thirty seconds, but the arrangement repeats the sections while layering more items on top of it about three times before moving on, and returns to this same section at 3:02 to close the track out. The issue this creates is a sense of repetition that while not *exactly* repeating it *feels* like it because the same instruments are doing the same thing over and over again while adding items on top, so the textures are repeating and causing the arrangement to feel dull (it's what the judges and I call a track being "too static"). If you insist on doing something like this, at the very least be willing to drop textures out and/or have different instruments fulfill the textures that are playing, that helps keep the track interesting for longer periods of time. The section at 1:50 does a lot to revitalize the arrangement, though, so an alternative is to simply have fewer iterations of the original idea, have the layering happen faster so that there isn't as much overall repetition in the arrangement. Concerning the production values, there's mud created by the pad, the long cutoff with the lead, and the oversaturation of reverb on many of the instruments. It creates a good deal of mud throughout the arrangement. As far as the simpler instruments are concerned (like the fake guitar-ish instrument used at the beginning), while they don't sink the arrangement I would consider asking yourself if they were being used as filler while you found an instrument that best complimented the overall arrangement, as often an artist might use any instrument to fill a role so they can get the music down quicker without returning to see if other instruments might sound better in the role. Something to consider, but if that's the sound you choose at the end I won't hold it against the arrangement. The static nature of the arrangement does sink this below our standards, though; it was difficult to listen to all the way through since I was getting tired by the minute mark. The bridging material in the middle provides a fantastic breath of fresh air that I enjoyed, so either make the material getting there more interesting or perhaps trim the material approaching that section so we can get to the other good stuff faster. NO

You tend to forget that this was created by HAL Laboratories until you listen to the OST, which sounds like "What if Kirby All Stars, but Medieval?"

It's bLiNd, so the production is about as good as I can expect - pretty much without blemish - and I like the central ideas and build-up that the track is based upon. I can't ignore that 0:14 - 0:55 is the same as 1:56 - 2:37, as is 1:43 - 1:56 the same as 3:25 - 3:38, with other sections having relatively subtle changes that are tricky to distinguish unless you listen to them side by side. I'm with Flexstyle, I've sent back less repetition in the past, this isn't going above and beyond the standards to ask that there my less direct repetition; there's plenty in here to build off of to make a great track, which unfortunately sounds like half of a track that got sent on repeat at the moment. NO

Welcome, hope you find a welcoming space that helps you in your craft here! If you haven't already, be sure to check out the OCR discord, as well, since a lot of members are pretty active there, as well. Hope you enjoy the space here :)

Honestly one of my favorites on the album, I've listened to this one a lot. If anyone needs a track to start with in this album, may I suggest the one with a fantastic vocalist and amazing arrangement to one of the best Nobuo Uematsu's ever made.

Holy Moley, did this revision help the track out! There's actually a lot I was missing in the original due to that drone, such as that bass guitar that holds the droning bassline (plenty to link it to the source IMO). The section from 1:09 sounds buttery smooth now, and it offers a lot of great contrast to the opening drone. It also sounds even more like the iconic track that it's paying homage to. Needless to say, the 70's flair that I loved so much before is still here in full glory, with none of the unintentional mud in the production, and the synths & instruments are still top notch. Thanks for the fix - I'm actually surprised just how much this improved the track. This went from a close NO to a "Holy crap why isn't this on the front page yet" YES - fantastic work! YES

Hey, not everything needs to be for the site, this is a cool little arrangement regardless. Loved the changes you made at 1:56, it helped keep the next pass fresh. Hope others give it a listen

Reference to MHA Vigilantes makes this an instant winner. The slick FM sounds, funky arrangement, and crisp singing helps seal the deal.

I think I hear what you mean - if some of the elements were more sidechained then there would be fewer instruments unintentionally dropping in and out due to overcompression. I think we're on the same page, here; if this was fixed with more direct and intentional sidechaining to give instruments space that'd probably help address my concerns, too.

Oh man, this is a really cool arrangement - much agreed with my colleagues above that the use of the sparse source throughout is great, and the nod to Pink Floyd is top notch (from my favorite album of their, no less!). The synths used are thick and rich, and just ooze with 70's distortion and flare. I do, however, have to mirror MW's comment about that pad & organ that holds that droning note throughout the entire arrangement - it's just too loud when everything else comes in and takes all the space those instruments need to stand out. I don't mind it when it's pretty much the only instrument there, but from 1:09 onward that drone needs to be mixed down a bit to give some space to the other instruments. If you want to maintain that distortion that it gets through limiting a loud signal you can achieve that effect prior to the master bus and then mix down the master. I really do like this, I just don't think I can justify it quite like this. I hope to hear a revision with this corrected soon! NO

Okay, this is just an awesome track. The samples hurt the track when they're exposed, but dayum does the metal carry this through. I don't mind the simple synths nearly as much, they compliment the arrangement well enough. As for the arrangement, everything is recognizeable, and because the sources all tend to compliment each other with similar motifs and the like it all ties together as a cohesive arrangement very well. Basically just signing off on this one, because of course it's good enough for a front page post, who are we kidding? YES

Honestly, I think this is a great little track. The idea and style is something else - medieval hip hop? - and it somehow works great with the source, and the arrangement does a fantastic job keeping things fresh throughout it's short and relatively conservative run. The flute performance is really quite charming, but it also exposes a few limits to playing flute at that range. If you don't have access to an alto flute you'll need to lighten up on other background parts in sections like 0:33 - 0:40, since it's really not possible to play flute loud enough at those ranges to rise above the accompaniment. You can also shift registers to gain some volume, but that'll probably ruin the impact you have when you do this with the flute later. The trills are also quiet at 1:33 - 1:34, but that's more likely a performance item that can be corrected by, well, being a little louder. Honestly I wanted to pass this anyway, but that sour note at 2:00 (the high flute note) needs to be fixed; it just lasts too long and is too prominent. I would suggest either raising that note by a half step or dropping it by three half steps to correct it. Please do so and take a look at the other items I discussed and send this back, because it's a pretty cool track otherwise. NO

Fun little conservative arrangement, and some fantastic yodelling, to boot. Love this game and it's soundtrack, so it's always great to hear folk tackle it. That bass, though... yeah, it is overpowering, and it's ever present from 0:16 onward. The mixing of that bass doesn't give any other instrument any room to breathe, so everything else in the mix gets drown behind it. Electronic music often has bass this loud, but it gets away with it by chaining it out of the way when necessary - in this track it is there at full force all the time. My ears actually started hurting by the end of it (not metaphorically, quite literally), and the track is only three minutes long. The track would benefit massively by decreasing the levels of that bass guitar, and it'll allow the other instruments to be mixed in such a way that they don't have to fight for the little amount of space that there is. Bass consumes so much of the spectrum, so it's important it's handled very carefully in an arrangement. EDIT (12/4): I think the bass is still a bit too strong, but this is certainly a significant improvement - more than enough to swing my vote. I won't let perfect be the enemy of great, here, since the arrangement is still great. Nice work on the fix! YES