Helios42

Hey, great job with this mix, Tyler!!! I'm kinda a sucker for the trance remixes - they remind me of a lot of cool jamz that happened to be in my first favorites when I started seeking out more video game remixes. What I like about this mix in particular though is the calm, catchy way it approaches what I always think of as a beautifully sad song. Dearly Beloved is one of the truly great title themes that get me to stop and just listen to them for a while. It really gets me in the perfect mood to play whatever KH I'm on... That makes it a tough song for the remixers though - because I'm always dying for a remix that captures that feel but it's also very hard to do match those expectations. This definitely captures the source's vibe, and it's a great mix to sit back and let wash over you. At least in my mind, repetitiveness is a moot point when it's the kind of song that's easily enjoyed as an underlying, passive piece like this. I've very excited to add this onto my "quiet solitude" playlist! Not enough love for the calmer mixes, so I'm always glad to see something like this!

Really exited to hear all of these. Sounds like BenBriggs is in love with his teams, so I am hella excite for that one. And the BGR, Mega Ballers, BBB, and everyone else. So much win about to come my way, I think

Haha, nice! Really interesting style, and a worthy addition to the roster of pokemon remixes Kinda like "Drowning Blue" from the Missingno Collection, this was from a source that I didn't really remember (lol, both ship themes...), but found my memory pleasantly right there at the ready once this started. Good memories, that mysterious ship. Also, congrats to Rozovian, Flexstyle, and Gario. Good picks

For future reference, this is the internet, if you don't want your statements be taken seriously, YOU MUST USE SMILEYS!! If you are in fact serious, then how dare you interrupt this thread with your rude and thoughtless posting. Shut the hell up please, get out of the internet, go on back to magfest and play games and drink loads of beer The rest of us are getting on fine without you party hearty magfest people I agree with Willrock's analysys. However, I would like to point out that rude as ectonegma may have been, he does raise a point I would like to bring up. Rexy, I understand that you are dissatisfied with the results. You have bemoaned the voting every round you have been involved in, and this does you no credit. I understand that you think highly of your entries, as is only right. I am in awe of them, they were all very good (I ended up giving a vote to all of them,). But there were many, many spectacular entries. Since you made the mixes, you are fundamentally more attached to them AND aware of their intricacies. Do not bash the voters. I ended up voting for all of your pieces, but in each case it was VERY CLOSE. That has been the case for all my votes. I can understand where the other votes are coming from, because there were many many good pieces. Complaining about how you thought all your works clearly deserved to do better seems to not consider the fact that other remixes can be amazing too. If you thought it was better (which is only right of course, but is influenced by the fact that you made it), then that is your vote, so to say. That's perfectly valid and fair. And you CAN indeed comment on why you think that. It's fine when you do that. But when you assume that it must be due to naive voters and discredit our ability to consider other remixes as better, it's disheartening to us. I mean all this in the best way possible. I honestly think you're fine, but clearly for others you're bordering on the edge of an elitest view of your piece. It was a hard competition, and I know on my end the votes were hard. Your pieces were AMAZING, Rexy, but they were not the only amazing ones. Votes will happen as they will, and each voter has their own reasons. Sometimes they explain them, sometimes they don't. But they usually makes sense to that voter.

Yeah, I'd do it in Word for the autosave feature, but I never think ahead for that and I'm usually really good about not messing it up. I just did something really really dumb this time, so yeah, just shouldn't have happened. Basically it came down to me clicking on my iTunes window, forgetting it was on half screen, then going to where the previous track button was... Anyways, needless to say this is not going to be quite as in detail as usual. Because I just don't have the energy. I'll cover most everything again, but I won't be as eloquent. Probably a good thing for me to practice. REVIEWZORS TIEM 2.0 (Again in the random order I listened to them in) Disconnect - I really loved the content of the lyrics this time around (got me reeling inSIIIIIII-ide!). I think the production on this one is really high, perhaps the highest of your entries in this gauntlet. However, in terms of my favorites, I think it would probably go The Fall > Far From Home > Disconnect. The lyrics just didn't didn't feel quite as catchy this time around. I didn't get as many "It all feels wrong when the trust is gone" moments (I mention that one, because I get it stuck in my head all the time and love it each time it does). They're good, very good, but don't flow quite as epically. Also, I think a little more could have been done with the source, and perhaps a little more instrumentation. The Cold man source was good, esp. how it got woven into lyrics. But I feel like there was more creativity with the Wily source in some of the other entries this round. Great song, though Mega Breeze - I liked the nice, cold, somewhat distant start that then revs up. The piano really completes that soundscape, sometimes in the forfront, sometimes in the background. The breakdown from 1:19 - 2:13 obviously makes the piece. The section from 1:53 - 2:13 is especilly creative. It really comes to a close after that breakdown, though, and a few other entries this round really cover much more of the Wily source. A solid piece, despite that. Night Train to the Deep Jungle - Certainly very creative. It keeps pretty close to the source, but does it with a fairly unique sound. 1:34 - 1:44 in particular worked very well, and I did end up liking how it sounded. 2:02 - 2:20 was an interesting change of pace, but the production of it could use work. The wubs at 2:24 worked pretty darn well, and I like how the piece was broght together from 2:46 - 3:07. That really did wonders for cohesiveness. The ending could be fleshed out. Overall, I think there needed to be more creativity with the source melody and more mixing of the sources. However, it does a good job with the basics. Flames of Youth - I love the soundscape for this one and the reverb is really well done for it. Reminds me of the Silent Realms in Skyward Sword. I liked how the themes were combined here, it's very interesting. Production is spot on, too. There were some areas of source that were either not there or not very prevalent. For both Dust and Wily there are parts that hardly recieve any attention. The parts that are focused on, however, are very well fleshed out and explored. In terms of source usage, I would have really liked to have seen one thing in particular that was missed. Because we may not have the same exact OST source, I hesitate to refer to time stamps for them, but I think in this case it is clear. One area in particular that was lacking from Dust Man was 0:28 - 0:40. That part of the source would have made a great climax, which was something Flames of Youth also lacked. This section seems like it would combine very well with Wily 9-2 from about 1:11 - 1:23. This was another part of the source that was absent. I mention these because I think it would culminate Flames of Youth really well, while still keeping the soundscape. That quiet, distant soundscape was amazingly true to the source, and was done really well. However, I think that the sources offer up a climax that maintains that. I would really love to see the magic the prophetic mixing touch on those parts of the themes. I think it would be incredibly beneficial to the remix, both in terms of source coverage and in remix enjoyability. However, I tried vey hard not to vote on that particular issue. Though I see a missed oppertunity, what's more important to the vote is what the remixer did, since there are so many different ways to go. Thus, there were some missing points on source coverage, but Flames of Youth had some amazing usage of source, great mixing, and spot on production. It was a hard (and rushed) decision between this and Raging Reptile, because they both had some lacking areas, but in very different ways. More on that later. Splash Damage - Loved the acoustic guitar and various woodwinds. Great instrumentation!!! The production with them was very tight. Any spot where it seems a little unexact gives that down-to-earth feeling achievable only with real playing. Perfect touch. 1:27 - 2:02 had some epic creativity with source. Source coverage was great. 2:05 - 2:19 was some amazing mixing too. Good ending. A clear choice for my vote. Raging Reptile - I really enjoyed the start, though 0:13 - 0:42 is really fuzzy. It's clearly intentional, and I understand why it's there. I do think, however, it could use some work to make it sound more polished while still doing what it's there for. But the source coverage is great. 0:56 - 1:24 is really catchy, some very creative stuff with Wily there. This section is followed up with an amazing transition to snake man. The mixing was really well done, and I love how much of both sources you cover. And the ending worked out really well. Megaman to the Knee - Fantastic start to this guy, just like your other entry. There's some really creative Fire Man source throughout this. The Wily source is also good, esp. from 0:38 - 0:51. I loved how fluid this remix was. 1:42 - 2:01 is amazing as an ending; it's very creative with both sources and sounds epic. However, I would have liked to see more done with that part. I think it could be fleshed out and it has a lot of potential creativity wise. That, and some more source coverage (esp WIly) would really make an outstanding remix. Derailed at Wily Temple - Really gripping start! This builds up to 0:47 - 1:01, which was really intense. Then a fascinating change in style for the Wily source, which worked well. 1:26 - 1:38 was really epic and leads to a very nice buildup and meshing section. Of that, 1:50 - 2:02 really does a great job covering source. Great use of effects to follow this up from 2:04 - 2:15. Overall, this piece was very well rounded. Amazing coverage of source, tight production, creative, varied, yet cohesive, and interesting. This and Splash Damage rise to the top for their amazing Wily 9-2 source coverage. Deciding between the two was a little hard, but that's for later. Final Stand in the Castle - Excellent mixing right off the bat. 0:42 - 0:54 follows that up, and captures a lot of cool Knight man source, very quickly too. There's some epic mixing of themes after that. And dat breakdown!!! Very creative. However, though some others seemed to have disagreed, I think that the shortness was a limiting factor for this piece. They WIly 9-2 source is vast. Though this covers a lot of ground for it's 2 minutes, I feel like there could have been more of the Wily source. The mixing however was great, and clear! One thing I noted about this round was that everyone touched on the main part of Wily 9-2 very well. That was awesome. However, most remixes were limited to that part, at least to any major degree. pH and Brandon do an amazing job covering not just the main melody, but also other sections of the source that are really awesome. Those two rose to the top quickly, and got my #1 and 2. Between them, Derailed at Wily Temple earns its spot because of some really fantastic transitions, a slight edge on creativity, and for perhaps covering a bit more of the wily source. Both it and Splash Damage were fantastic though. Raging Reptile also does a great job of source coverage, so it was a potential for my 3rd place vote. Flames of Youth, though not covering all of either its sources, is also really enjoyable, mixes themes amazingly, and has more production polish. Deciding between the two was rushed for me, and happened before I had really put my finger on what parts of source Flames of Youth was low on. I keep toying back and forth whether I made the right decision, but I can't change it. Both were enjoyable, covered sources interestingly and creatively, and had good production and energy. I sided with Flames of Youth, because it does pick the best parts of source for the soundscape it created and really explored them. Without covering it all, it still did a great job of coverage of those parts. The production and soundscape ended up winning me over for that 3rd place vote. But I'd love to see it have those culminating source bits explored too! Well, I'm fairly satisfied with how that turned out. Isn't everything it was, but is more in some places and is perhaps a bit clearer than it was. Only took an hour and a half for the second time

BAH. I was literally almost done with my review, and then I hit the back button >.< It was a good one, too. I'm gonna go eat and then try to replicate it. Usually when I do something stupid like that it will still keep it. Don't know why it didn't this time. Oh well, it was only and hour and a half of typing down the drain. I can do it again!

It looks like he had just lost his train of thought.

I'm not saying it will take an entire weekend for me personally. It does, however, take some amount of free time for me to give each one a couple of listens, and that free time is sometimes hard to come by for a college student also working 10 hours a week. Right now, my prime times that I have a solid chunck of time to listen fall on the weekends. I'll be able to manage, so I will get my votes in anyways. I was just sayin' that it might benefit the voting to extend it out a little, to allow people a whole week for when free time may come to them. But ah well, I'll squeeze the time out of somewhere, so no worries.

I have a question: Can voting be open for longer than 12PM EST on saturday? Due to not getting the songs right away, it'd be better at least for me, to get a weekend to listen to them. Since this round wasn't out until sunday evening, could voting last at least through all/most of saturday?

Like I said before, I'm betting Round 10 involves the point leaders somehow. I mean, you gotta have some reason for those points, and you've really got to have some awesome final battle. I'm holding out for a remix battle with Dr. Wily himself (aka Darkesword) Because that would be hella awesome. I don't know how many people would participate or how many themes would be involved, but, I would say that round 10 epicness may perhaps be so awesome that Brandon Strader (I add the last name because my name is Brandon as well and I feel weird just saying Brandon and not refering to myself ) gets a new, adrenaline pumping desire to remix in such an awesome final match. After all, I'm pretty sure Mega Man has wanted to say , but he's pressed onwards and fought for world peace. You too, remixers, can kick fatigue to the curb and do the impossible Round 10! Don't believe in yourselves! Believe in the me who believes in you guys!Yay references

Like SuperiorX said, SectorZ has tallies, but Darke hasn't voted in rounds 6 - 8 yet, so none of them are final.

Continued from part 1 As a worthwhile side note, since in was discussed earlier: My voting style is mostly based on two things. For 'overall feel of the song' I tend to focus less on subjective things like how much I liked it. Rather, I try to focus on the cohesiveness of the song, how it flows, and the level of depth it builds. Soundscape and tone are important in that, too. Obviously, I still have to to enjoy it a little bit. Perhaps the biggest factor to me, given the nature of these competitions as well as what I most enjoy about video game music, is the arrangement of sources. These sources are catchy! I love it when they're woven together, but it's also important to maintain some recognizability. When voting on this, I tend to look for mixes that transition/weave the sources together well. Also important is touching on the source. It doesn't have to touch on all of each source, but at least the majority, and certainly all of the major parts. Also, I like to see a balance between creativity/uniqueness and that all-important recognizability. Overall, I think this issue is probably the most important to me in deciding my vote, but thankfully, it's usually one people do really well on. Then I start to weigh in the overall feel of the song. All along the way is production. However, I think it's important to note that I don't focus on production as much as others seem to. First off, this is mostly because I'm not very technically skilled at music, so I miss a lot of the smaller, more technical production issues. But, in the larger sense, production is really only the surface layer so I don't focus on it as my main issue. The use of source and overall enjoyability take precedent over production. I vote on production mostly when it's lack affects the recognizability of source or the overall feel of the song. It's important, to be sure, but only in the same sense that grammar is to language. In language, the grammar is not the point, the idea is. In music, production's not what I like most about voting, and it's really only a thing because it's needed to fully articulate the ideas behind it. Long story short, a high level of production is vital to best express an idea, but I'm not going to vote for a song just because it has perfect production. It's only a part of my voting, and it's something more present throughout my decision making, rather than something I look at specifically. And without further ado, my thoughts on Round 8's tracks! I listened to them in a random order, because I've listened to them in the same team order for most of the rounds. I'm going to write them up in that order, because that's the order my notes are in The Return of Gansta Man Loved the starting swag - and it had some intertwining of themes to boot! 0:48 - 0:58 was really just perfect. It wasn't too quiet of Crash man, as has sometimes happened in the past. Yet the subtleness was there, and good for the tone, as well as just plain cool. I really liked the clarity at 2:07 - 2:33, stopping the background beat for just a little worked well, and then building it back up was awesome. Overall, the tone was spot on and the cover of Crash Man was really good. Sometimes all the things going on felt a little superfluous, so those might be a little more focused. Also, the reverb might be a touch too much in places. But overall, a very enjoyable piece! Electropuncture Awesome start! 0:16 - 0:22 had some amazing spunk and was executed flawlessly. Great effects in the first half minute and some of the most interesting cover of the Wily 1 source this round. And then... 0:39 - 0:41. Amazing use of old school sound effects. This is how they should be used. Not just as a nod to source, but as a really catchy sound that really adds to the piece. Also quite the smooth transition. I like how you kept the unique Wily 1 interpretation layered in the background, lead to some excellent cohesiveness. Great use of reverb in most places. 1:39 - 1:52 was an interesting shift, and lead to a more straightforward touch on both sources. The 1:39 - 2:24 area could use a little polish I think, but really added to the piece and somehow fit very well. 3:06 continues the trend of spectacular sound effects, dat health bar was something else. Last 10 sec or so could use a little work, but it doesn't detract from the piece. I mentioned earlier that I narrowed it down to 4, just had to decide on order (which figures out which one I sadly do not get to vote for) This is one of those. Current Events Is that a Sephiroth reference at the beginning? Either way, sounds really cool. Good style here, lots of energy. The breakdown at 1:14 - 1:43 was great. The Wily 1 source is used really well, and the Elec source leads to a very catchy song. I feel like there's perhaps a little too much liberty with the Elec Man. It's really hard to place, but there is a fair amount there. It leads to a really great style, but I think that the piece could use a slightly more recognizable cover that guides the listener to how it's being used. Still a really great remix, though! Tomahawk's Final Chapter Cheesy start, but I loved it. I liked the effect, but Tomahawks voice was a little too gravely. That could have been toned down a little. I liked the use of chip source to indicate the "Time Machine". Good touch on the wily source from 1:23 - 1:48, though the evil laugh needs a lot of work. Guitar Tomahawk source was epic. I felt like the middle was highly polished. Some of the chip areas could use some more polish, specifically 3:05 - 3:18. The ending, from a technical standpoint was executed well. I liked the desperate piano touch to the self-destruct. Overall though, I felt like there were a couple things that keep me from really enjoying the effect. First, the lyrics are too specific, which causes them to feel shallow. There isn't a whole lot of room for listener interpretation, but the actual sequence described is very straightforward. Lends itself well to the overly cheesy feel, but this shallowness limits the enjoyablity for me. Finally, and this may be too specific, but I think it might be stepping out of bounds to actually kill off Dr. Wily. It would have been better if that ending was left more vague, because actually killing off Wily just seems a little much. Anyways, I enjoyed the song and the actual music fit in really well. Towering Shade Awesome style with this one, the two are mixed very well in with a very cool tone. I noticed a strange blip at 0:08, nothing major but it stands out. Awesome beat to the whole thing, that was well done. The transition at 0:56 worked really well. 1:34 - 1:39 stood out as particularly awesome. Overall, I would have liked to see more meshing of the two themes together, because I think that would be really cool sounding and would really make this piece a hard hitter. Cruise Control Superb Wily cover in the first minute! Pretty darn epic start. I almost would have liked to see Napalm come in at around 1:08. 1:31 proved to have an abrupt transition, at least it felt that way to me. The lull in the middle took a few listens to fit, but it does work. I'm not sure it adds a whole lot, but that could just be me. The rockout from 3:00 - 3:30, on the other hand, is made of pretty substantial epic, and mixes the sources very well. This definitely is one of my 4 that I am deciding between for my votes. Very polished! Subarctic Nightfall Overall, I think this piece needed to do more with the Wily source. However, I still did very much enjoy the remix, the soundscape in particular. 1:20 - 1:45 was some amazing buildup, but the Wily source in it could have been more distinct without hurting the tone. And perhaps more of a climax would have benefited this piece. But it was a lot more focused and cohesive this time, which is a good improvement. I don't think this one is quite as good as Northern Lights, which had a lot of creativity, depth, and things to keep my attention. But Subarctic Nightfall does improve in some key areas, specifically the focus. It just suffered from a lack of climax that so plagues the quiet pieces. It's hard to do, but even the quiet pieces need to have something they build up to. Even if that remains quiet, it can still be really epic. Northern Lights is a good example of this succeeding. Overall though, Subarctic Nightfall was quite good. Ivory Tower The piano solo made a great soundscape for the two sources. This soundscape leads to a really creative touch on Chill man from 1:06 - 1:20. I love how that ended up sounding. Again, the sources were touched on very well, Wily 1 works well with piano, apparently. I love the mixing that goes on from 2:30 - 3:05. Overall, a good, subtle piece that I will enjoy listening to. For my vote, however, I think there are some others that just slightly pull ahead of this one, specifically in their creativity with the source. Ivory Tower definitely plays it safe, which I think was important to how this piece functioned as a whole, so I have no qualms with that Top This I liked the style at the start of this, which had just the faintest hint of Wily source. I agree with Rozovian, the Top Man source was, in parts, a little hard to catch. Where it shows up, though, it's very interesting. But in parts of the middle it felt as though it could have been explored a lot more. I like the effect it creates, though - now that was something interesting. I would just have liked to see some coverage of the top source that wasn't as muffled. The Wily source, however, was covered very well and made for yet another really catchy and creative touch on that source. This round certainly had some really creative, and awesome, covers on the source. Back to Top This - really great song that falls very closely to Ivory Tower in my voting. Very close to my vote, but there were a few songs that took a lot of risks that paid off. Love listening to Top This, though! Synthesize This! Lovely Plant source here. 0:46 - 1:18 had some awesome mixing of the themes and some great stuff is done with both sources. Between 1:18 - 1:57 there's a lot of great creativity going on that works out very well for both sources. The synths that come in at 2:12 - 2:28 are really catchy and have great buildup effect. What's more, the buildup does not disappoint! 2:30 - 3:14 is INCREDIBLY upbeat and wonderful. I like the repeat of mixing that we see from the beginning back again at 3:38 - 3:44 after that lovely journey we have just taken. And the ending theme at the ending... ahh, I loved it. The ending follows up Wily 1-1 so well (and I've even seen it done before). Synthesize This! really stood out to me by taking both sources to the next level, which is probably the defining characteristic of the 4 I'm considering, of which we now have 3. Drag me Up (to Heaven) Excellent touch on Magnet Man, really refreshing yet very fitting. Add to that a VERY creative touch to the Wily source and you have the makings of an exciting start. Loved the layering of themes we got at 0:55 - 1:08. Layering the two together is a great way to segway into meshing of the themes while still giving nods to both individually. 1:33 - 2:40 really compiled that meshing well. And I loved every minute of it because I knew where both the themes were without having to search for them. They just flowed over my eardrums in sonorous harmony. This, in turn, segwayed into my favorite part of Magnet Man - it's climax, which serves as the climax here as well (an impressive feat, climaxing a song that had such a great start). I don't know if I have the words for this, but I'm going to try. I found it incredibly powerful how you tied in the pure magnet man inside the already beautiful integration of themes. Stylistically, it works so incredibly well into one of the best examples of my ideal mix. You're a champ, Gario! Obviously, this was in my top 4. Alright, decision time! I keep coming back to that idea of 'top 4' which is weird in a 'vote for 3' competition. It's not a special number, I just come back to it because I felt that those 4 rose to the top very clearly after my first listen and stayed there after 4 listens. They all just had such creativity while keeping both sources clear, yet also intertwining them together in wonderful joy. Spirit of the competition, right there. I knew deciding between them was gonna be tough, so I put it in the back of my mind til now. As I went through writing my reviews, it helped me identify key factors that helped me decide, as it always does. I think Cruise Control, though wonderful, falls into that hard 4th place category. Just had some areas that could be improved and doesn't quite have as much creativity as the other three. Just as much epic though. Tn writing my reviews, the rest falls into place. Drag me Up is just so pristine as to demand my 1st place - it flows so well!!! Such creativity and energy, too! Love it! Then I think Synthesize This! falls next. Again, great energy! Lovely creativity. I liked the cohesive flow of Gario's just an atom more, so 2nd it is for this one! And then Electropuncture, which was also creative, lively, epic, and cohesive. It has a few spots that I think deserve to be polished, but like I said. A scant few flaws in production, so long as they don't hinder the ideas behind the remix, can be overshadowed by stellar creativity, source use and integration, and epic overall feel. Electropuncture is just so darn catchy!

Wow... I missed a day and this thread took a long journey in that time. This post'll probably include reviews eventually, so it might get pretty long My thoughts on what happened and seems to be at rest where it is fine: Well, while it's important to try to stay positive and such, I can understand some discontent. And I also think it doesn't hurt anything to express/alleviate those disappointments. Let's look at it this way. If someone feels like there needed to be an improvement to the voting system, isn't it better that they express that? Darkesword gave us a good compromise, but we may not have gotten there without some expressing "Hey, I think X might be a better voting system because of some reasons" And if there had been no discussion of the point of these competitions, Rexy, for example, would be of the opinion that there is no reason to do these competitions if the lack of votes was just going to grate on her. I don't know if any of the responses changed her mind, but I think it helped give everyone a more clear picture. And perhaps it might end up encouraging Rexy to do some more of these in the future. The discussion is worth it to me. And really, it's not like it matters if there's 208 pages of post or 36. I'd like to point out that there are some very clear reasons why this thread is longer: 1. There needed to be more rule clarification. This isn't bad. Because of discussion, there were changes to respond to the problem. It makes sense that changing those rules would require some discussion. Also, I think it just took longer to explain the general gist of everything at the beginning. 2. There are more people paying attention to these things. First off, there are more remixers. GRMRB 2010 had 16. Maverick had 16. Those were the two short ones Neblix pointed to. The longer threads, coincidentally enough, were the two to have more remixers; 32 and 36 respectively. That means more comments from the mixers, as well as more mixes for everyone to comment on. But perhaps even more importantly, there seem to be more people listening. The amount of voters in the first rounds of this competition was pretty high: ranging from 55 to 62. More people invariably mean more discussion. I don't see why this is a bad thing. More pages means these Grand Remix Competitions/Gauntlets are growing, which is good. 3. The style of this competition is bound to produce more comments. People had to say who was participating in the next round. Updates were also fairly important. It was useful to know that people weren't going to be able to make a mix for a given round. It's also useful, as a listener, to know some of the reasons why a mix is short, not there, or suffering from the "all-nighter" syndrome. This point is also highlighted by Darke's posts. In past competitions, we sometimes got a post for each new round. In this one, we usually got 2 or 3. Had to give the source, post download (and which mixes he did not receive), and sometimes mention other things of import to that round. Finally, it's also reasonable to expect more posts because there was new, surprise source to comment upon. I think it was interesting to see how people responded to the different Wily sources. I'm not saying that every post in this thread is substantially meaningful. It would be weird to expect them to be. But I am saying that we could definitively expect more posts anyways, so that's not really surprising. Additionally, we just plain had more people. The more people you have, the more likely to be disagreement. Neblix, if you have a way to solve that invariable correlation, why sir, then you have solved one of the biggest problems on the internet! I'd love to hear it! But until then, it's just a simple fact of having more people. Which, I would say, at this point, it's a good thing. Moderation, of course. If you start getting a BAZILLION people, then you really have to start controlling the focus of the thread a lot more. It's a balance between the benefits of more people and the chaos those denizens can bring. Also, I didn't write this to 'open up old wounds' or what naught. I understand it's not a devastatingly big controversy. But, contrary to popular opinion, it is also possible to have a reasonable discussion about small deals and have it without being insulting to each other. ------------------------------------------------------------- I'm going to keep typing because I'm good at that. Let's see if I write so much I break the post Just kidding, of course. My reviews shall be only as long as they need to be. PSUEDO EDIT – I found out just how long my one post could be. So I’ve actually got to break this into 2 parts! I’ll wait so as to not double post. But trust me, reviews are forthcoming!

Round 8 was pretty darn great. I have a clear 4 that I've narrowed it down to for my vote, but figuring out their order is going to take some time. Really great work, everybody. Way to stay strong after a LOT of mixing!

Alright, I know this review is way late, but I'm gonna shoot it out anyways. This is for Round 7. I was busier than I thought I would be on saturday (I literally voted at 12:00PM eastern time), and sunday was christmas. I haven't listened to round 8 yet, but I hope to do that soon. But for now, my impressions on Round 7! A Swarm of Voxels Ah, I love your mix of chip goodness and highly polished production. This one was really catchy. I thought the start was interesting, and really worked out well from 0:17 - 0:50. There was some great mixing in the middle, esp 1:16 - 1:29, which was very stylish. The creativity from 1:38 - 1:53 was done really well. And the conclusion was stellar. Easily one that I voted for, and the fact that this didn't grab my number 1 is a testiment to the awesomeness going on in this round. Totally Tubular Fortress All around, a solid entry that plays it pretty safe. Very Sir_Nuts style, which I like. 0:26 - 0:40 fit the style of the source really well. The blizzard source doesn't hit as hard here as it has in the past two entries, but it's still interesting. 1:21 - 1:30 was too slow of a tempo, and that part didn't sound so hot to me. In the end, I think the production was fine and the parts seemed to work well. I loved the style, but it felt slightly repetitive this time around. WHICH ONE DO I SHOOT?! I loved the start, set a really great mood for the piece. Loved the violin styled Wily 7, that worked out really well. 1:11 - 1:34 was a spectacular cover of Gemini Man, just what I've been waiting for. Very creative. 1:35 - 1:48 captured a great duality of style, perfect for the source (which is perfect for its robot master). The ending worked out really well too. I was sad that I didn't quite have a vote for this one. I thought 'A Swarm of Voxels' had the edge on this one. But, that is not to say that I found this one dissatisfying. On the contrary, this was a really great piece. I think it could be improved with a little more time, but as it stands, it is pretty darn spectacular. Megaman Awesome Slow start on this one, isn't quite the catchiness that attracted me to Smooth Heat. However, 0:30 - 1:00 proved to have some really good mixing. The Wily 7 source enters well, but eventually suffers from a lack of creativity with it. It keeps going from 0:40 - 1:45. I think adding some form of heat man, and maybe exploring the source more, would really improve that segment of the song, which is what I think could use improvement the most. The feel for most of the piece was good, if very conservative. I liked the drums that came in towards the end, but I would have liked to see a lot more done with them. Call the Fire Department Loved the soundscape in this one. Great creativity with source, and it made a really great tone. 0:15 - 0:29 was catchy. 0:37 - 0:44 was very dramatic and well done, and followed up with some awesome Wily 7. And then, I'm sorry to say, 0:59 hits. It sort of just stops, which I'm guessing came from time constraints. I'd love to see this guy completed, because it has a really awesome first minute! Wily's Ruin Aptly named, and the tone of the piece reflects this, and works in tandem with the lyrics. I especially liked the mixing we see in the the chorus, though the lyrics could use a little more precision/fluidity, there were a couple spots that didn't seem to flow well. Wily 7 came out really well in the verses. The bridge was wonderfully done - and this coming from someone who usually doesn't like the lyrics to follow the main melody. That is to say, I like the lyrics that make their own melody, instead of just following the source. The chorus here does a great job on this. But the bridge is a great example of when it actually works really well to follow that melody. It just flows so well, and ends with a really distinctive flair. Nicely done, though I would consider reworking the flow of the lyrics in verse 1, it seems to have some akward/difficult pauses in it. Just didn't sound very natural to me, which is fine if that's what you're going for. When the Moon Cries There was a lovely buildup at the start, I thought it worked really well. I loved the whistley flute styled Wily 7-4, right at 1:55 - 2:31. Overall, there's some good production on the musical front, but the lyrics felt a little unpolished to me towards the beginning. And they followed the source melody too closely without a lot of variety from it. Still, a very great, cohesive piece. -------------------------------------------------------------- Aside: I guess that it might be a personal taste, but I really do feel that, on the vg music front, lyrics work best when the instruments tackle the source melody, and then the lyrics are tied to but not exactly the same as that melody. Sort of derived off of the melody and working in tandem to it. That really fleshes out the lyrics while allowing the instrumentation to also shine brightly. Really, what it comes down to is that the lyrics should not be forced into the source melody, which almost always sounds forced. We see bits of that in Wily's Ruin, specifically the verses (which follow Wily 7 source) and in places throughout When the Moon Cries. If it flows well (Bridge in Wily's Ruin for example) it can be really cool. But it can also make the lyrics sound forced. I've seen some really prime examples of lyrical melody creativity in both AkumajoBelmont's and The Megas' lyrics; they make their own natural sounding flow which is catchy as I'll get out and really adds something amazingly new and deep to the overall song. Long tangent is long, but I think that is part of the reason why a lot of people have a distaste of vgm + lyrics. A lot of times the lyrics sound forced so they can follow the melody, and it just doesn't sound as cool. I'd like to point out though, that our two lyrical pieces in this past round (Round 7) were still very well done and were NOT terrible offenders of the above; I'm simply highlighting this because I think it's something that might potentially improve those pieces. ---------------------------------------------------------- Black Alleycat Perfect use for shadow man source; I love shadow man done in jazz/lounge, really highlights the tune. Additionally, it proves to work wonders with Wily 7-4, too, which was neat. Great transition at 0:52 - 0:56. 1:06 - 1:24 was pretty darn stylish. Loved the atmosphere. Not really a whole lot I think would need to be improved, it's a very self sustaining and complete piece! Float Interesting work! It has some great building up parts. There's great mixing in those buildup parts, which works well. However, I wish there was something a little more that was built up to. Could have used a stronger climax somewhere in the middle, I think. Good piece, but I do feel like it's missing something to stand out. Halite Great collab; it brought out the talents of your group (which I find I really like ) Piano start was amazing, especially 0:16 - 0:28. Then it moves to an awesome beat that really builds up the piece and shows off some great style and creativity with the Wily source. The transition at 1:48 - 1:52 REALLY fit crystal man's style, so worked amazingly well. 2:58 - 3:15 really built up the crystal man source well and in a very unique way. Overall, the last minute of the song really culminated the piece, had some of both source with some excellent mixing. Ended up being my number one pick, because it brought together a lot of things I really like, and it nailed the balance between creative source cover and mixing! And the variety of instrumentation while maintaining cohesiveness of style was great! Skull Shield Great covers, though the mixing wasn't really there at all. The transitions could use a little work, but what's also needed is integration of the sources together, rather than a simple A -> B x 2. In order for a piece like that to be competitive, it has to do some really awesome and unique stuff, and somehow manage to tie the two sources together into one cohesive song. But, the guitar work is face melting, and the last transition (1:24 - 1:26) actually works really well. I hope it's not overstretching my rights to cut off this song at 2:18. I just don't feel like having to explain such an ending whenever I play this. I can see how some would find it funny though. Alright, I just wanted to still post my thoughts on round 7, even though we're on round 8 now. Well, now that I'm caught up to where I should have been Saturday, I will try to listen to and write a review for this week's mixes soon!