ReMix:Dennis "Desktop Dynamite" 4:04

Totally agree that this mix sounds like a Mazedude + Sole Signal collab - there's a lot of energy here, the beats are pretty kickin', but at the same time the atmosphere here is filled with some dark, downbeat felling, and it also has a touch of light as Bahabut said. Great debut, Jack!

This mix is dark and yet, it has a lighter feel about that darkness, if that makes sense. It doesn't go full on serious with the dark aspect, having a feel of progression through a bunch of acts that builds up to an intricate prank. I think the song does a good job in carrying out a cohesive idea here, although at times the mixing sounds a bit weird to me.

I dig it overall though.

Dark and a bit spooky, but upbeat at the same time. Very nice. I've always liked electronica ReMixes like this, for the way they seem to go with the flow while having some personality. Some parts of it actually sound a little drum and bass, which is always good. For the first time, this was impressive.

Having heard the other 2 DarkSim representations on the site by now, it's fair that I looked at the one that started it all.

The Drum n' Bass inspired direction here managed to add to something that might be expected from some of the darker tracks in the Ape Escape soundtrack (trust me to make comparisons to that _), though at the same time does have more of a relaxed nature in the cymbal work that manages to keep a calmer atmosphere than somehow implied. It also managed to take a very repetitive source material and showed its nice melodic expansions to keep things running fresh as far as writing goes.

My biggest qualm with the track more than anything though is that the synth expression doesn't really seem to go anywhere, and thus the track has this same constant hit of energy from the more melodic parts here. That might've been me being somewhat tainted after being already intensely familiar with his follow up track "Fore on the Floor", but for electronica-based works, it's something that might hurt the mix if not enough care was taken.

But I'm glad that you have been listening to what the judges had been advising, and with your growth over the months we may see the quality from you rise even higher. For now, solid work

First off, we need more Amiga remixes.

As for this remix, I can definitely hear the connection to Malevolent Mansion. The breakdown in the middle is a little too long IMO, though.

Also, it would have been nice if, in the last part, where the song picks up speed again, it would speed up even further for the finale, i.e. go from fast to frantic. Just my 2 cents.

Anyway, good first remix, and I am looking forward to hearing more from you.

If you were a noob making this, wow then I expect your upcoming mixes to be total and utter kick-ass mastery

Woo! First mixpost on OCR! First off, I was so happy to see this posted I ran round work telling everyone! I'd been checking religiously every morning after seeing it in the "To Be Posted" list.

Reading the judges' comments I really appreciated the effort that goes into them, and it makes the long process all the more worthwhile and satisfying, so thanks a lot for the YES votes as well as the pointers! They are duly noted! Also a great writeup from djp, I too enjoy a nice personal touch to a ReMix, and indeed their writeups. It also resonated with me what djp said over new year - that he wanted to see people "shine a light into the darkest corners of VGM" and find those hidden gems that might otherwise get lost amongst all the more mainstream games.

I'm so happy OA mentioned Sole Signal in his vote too, as I said in my original WiP thread that Malevolent Mansion was a real inspiration to this track, so that was rather flattering of him

On to the ReMix itself, I honestly didn't expect this to be so well-received, given that I was such a noob at Ableton Live when I started making it - the first version of this was clipped to hell and had hardly any variation in it. Advice to any newcomers to the site is to post in the WiP boards (no matter how amateurish, or indeed good, you think it might be). They really do help, even if it can be a little daunting to put your work on show and get criticism, but they helped get this mix from a repetitive loud mess into a posted mix in the 2 weeks it took to finish.

Some ReMix trivia for you: each drum in this song has its own track in the mixer (great for control, horrible for sequencing!), and instead of figuring out how to get delay on effects, I used volume and velocity envelopes on duplicated tracks. Mmmm, what was I doing? Thankfully, I now know how to use drum racks, delay effects, and mastering (there isn't any on this track) so that should help my next mixes immensely!

Thanks for all the comments, I'm trying to learn as much as I can so I can continue to improve, and you can definitely expect more ReMixes from me!

I love the energetic beat on this song. Also, I like how the sounds don't run into each other, directly.

On the other hand, the melody doesn't seem to connect. Like, the progression repeats itself. Doesn't seem like the song is going anywhere. It's more like random notes thrown onto a progression (?) and a couple stiff changes. Make sure your changes go from subtle to drastic.

Wooop! Good shit on getting a remix posted DarkSim. I'm likin the sound of this. I like that instrument that comes in on the 1:30 mark but I'm not sure what it is though lol.

Yeaaah!! Really glad to finally see this posted! It's an eargasmic, energetic and somewhat spooky drum 'n base take on a highly addictive melody. The song is really quite visual in a way and that makes it more alive. Definately a track that you can put on repeat while kickstarting your homework session or if you need to do some rapid house cleaning.

Thanks for the mention btw

ah, i remember mod reviewing this a while back; happy to see it posted!

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