Jamphibious

Hope all here have been well. Things have been okay where I live (I think we've only hard around 100 confirmed cases in my health district in Northern Ontario), but the information / emotional overload of this year has certainly wore on me from time to time. Despite holing up inside and working from home, I've been trying to connect / reconnect with cool people, musicians, and communities online. I came out of the woodwork a bit more these past few months in terms of producing / releasing music again, which has been a positive. I found in the past I'd often force myself into creative slumps, purely due to my own anxieties. And I'll admit that earlier in the year I was having some rough times in terms of my personal mental health. But I thought that really committing more to my music and just generally putting my time towards sometime I'm passionate about would help me out. I think it has so far, hoping to keep up this momentum and really grow as a composer.

Jeez Garp, rockin' tune. Such power, such dirty synth work (dirty is good). I was tempted to try to use guitars on mine too so we could have a good old fashion rock-off but it didn't pan out. Maybe a rematch one day

Two remixers enter. One remixer leaves. ...But then the other one says "hey cool mix nice job"

Certainly less lively than a lot of the competitions I've been part of in past years. But, there's still been some cool music being cooked up. Start of the school year is tricky for some people, on top of the fact that 1 week to produce a track isn't the simplest task. Had a windstorm this past weekend myself so some of my music time has slipped away dealing with that. But I'm doing my best to get something in by Wednesday night for sure. I'm hoping @Garpocalypse is cooking something cool up, us both being uncontested last round was a little unfortunate. I've been in several of the compos with you but I don't think I've ever directly faced you before

I have been more focused on original works the last year or so myself but I wont shy away from the odd remix if the mood strikes. I do find that a remix is often a good idea when someone is in a creative slump, as it gives you at least something to start with that you can try take your own liberties with. I was really into the competitions here previously which did very much help improve my general composing/production skills. That eventually translated to me working on more original work. I wasn't the "frog user" who mentioned that no one cares about original work compared to remixes, but it is a sentiment I've seen many people talk about, and I do think it has some merit. Its only natural though, a remix takes existing source material that does have an existing fan base, as others have echoed here. The same as fan art / cosplay as you suggested. People are just more inclined to notice something that's tied to an existing IP. I posted a remix of Hydrocity from Sonic 3 on my Soundcloud some time last year, didn't hype it up or really post it around anywhere, but now its my most played track (over 16,000 plays as of now). Yet those kind of numbers are a bit of a pipe dream for anything original I happen to post. Again, its not unusual, and as much as I could try to build a name by doing solely remixes I do find original work to be more rewarding on a personal level so even if the level of exposure isn't really there I ultimately am happy with the things I produce. And if I weren't happy doing music (or any form of art) I don't think I could continue doing it. It also doesn't help that my more recent endeavors have been ciptune-inspired which is itself a niche genre, but that's my own problem

I was happy with what I was able to do last round with what time I had available but I definitely felt my mix was a little "safe". Didn't venture too far outside my comfort zone. Starphoenix had a more interesting take to me so I threw a vote that way. Definitely keep it up! I was a little bummed that I didn't get Flash Man originally but looks like I get a shot at that theme after all. I'll see what I can muster up this week, considering I'm remixing my first and second picks now.

Got around to submitting my track today since I wont have any time available tomorrow to work on music. It was definitely tricky finding a way to work the two sources together given how different the mood and feel of them are but I reached a decent compromise I think. Excited to hear the rest of the tunes this coming round.

I've always wanted to do something Christmas-y but I never got involved in the past. Chalk me down as a maybe, I'm gonna think about what I might want to do for this. Should have plenty of time to get something done before the deadline!

Hello yes I still do musics I will join. 1) Flash Man (Mega Man 2) 2) Charge Man (Mega Man 5) 3) Burst Man (Mega Man 7) Might change the order of my picks, but this list seems good at the moment methinks.

Been a bit out of the musical loop these days, but I wanna get back into the swing of things. There's some cool music here, I'd like to try my hand at the Ancient Cave Battle if I'm able to claim it!

I would definitely wanna have my own Animal Crossing village to visit. Definitely one of the most chill game worlds to hang out in. As much as I love large vibrant worlds like the Withcher 3 there's a lot of shady stuff and crazy monsters that I wouldn't wanna deal with.

Aye, it's certainly a nice start but there are some issues. To me, the main thing is that the synth choices seem a bit bland. The lead in particular throughout seems a little lifeless, it could use a bit of modulation, variation, or perhaps it could be layered with something else to add some more interest. As it is its a bit flat, and it also seems to overshadow other instruments whenever it is playing, making the backing textures hard to discern. Some extra attention to the mixing of the lead with the rest of the synths would be beneficial. The track in general also seems a bit lacking in energy. It's not bad for a downtempo style like this, but with some different sound choices I could see this being a convincing chillout piece rather than industrial techno. Definitely keep at it, it's got potential. I would focus on the sound design and mixing some more and go from there.

Okay. Wow. This is a phenomenal arrangement in its current state (minus the lack of a transition near the end). If this is super rough then I can't imagine what the finished product will be. The change into the fast section was really neat, I love the feel of that section. Though, I would say that the string swell leading into it kind of obscures the very beginning of it, though you also wouldn't want to jeopardize the climactic feel there so I'm not sure if that's a huge issue, or if I'm being too nitpicky. Those harmonies in the woodwinds around 1:50 are beautiful by the way. I'm also very fond of the sweeping piano bits throughout that section. Keep it up, I love the sound you have going on here and I'm eager to hear more.

This has an awesome vibe to it. The mixing isn't all bad but it could use some touch-ups. The bass in particular seems a tad too powerful. I realize the bass is pretty important part in this style, but if it was a bit quieter it could help the other parts come through more clearly. The drums could use a bit more presence as well, though they're close where they are. Love the organ throughout. The piano was pretty hard hitting at first which had me worried, but it ducked out of the way a bit once the whole ensemble came in which sounded alright to me. The trombone is a nice touch, though it does sound a bit fakey. It could use a bit more humanization, mostly noticeable in the faster runs it does, though it's not bad as it. The outtro is a pretty drastic change, it could use a more convincing lead-in like others have suggested. But overall this is a very sweet arrangement, just needs some touch-ups throughout in the mixing like you initially suspected. Keep at it!

Miitomo is just silly fun, and I really didn't expect much from it but I learned a bunch of silly little things about friends who I am not so great at keeping in touch with normally, so hey that's kinda cool. I'm still not very far in Xenoblade X myself but I pop on it lots to slowly make progress. Still love it, though I tend to play RPGs at a snails pace now since I'm always multitasking music and other things Also my NNID still isn't on the first page post, so I shall let you all know once again that it is AmphibiousFrog. Add me on your Wii U entertainment console!