*NO* Guilty Gear X2 'Destroy Movements' *RESUB*

Edit - Original Decision: http://www.ocremix.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=60544

http://chipp_damage.sitesled.com/

Hello. My name is Jahan. My remixer name is CHIPP Damage. This is a resubmission of my orchestral remix of the song, Writhe In Pain, from Guilty Gear. The title is the same as before; Destroy Movements. I appreciated all of the advice I received from the judges on my first submission. I hope this one can become the first Daisuke Ishiwatari remix on your sweet site.

I tried my best to make the 3v2 labels right. Please forgive any mislabels. Thank you for your time.

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Guilty Gear XX Original Soundtrack - 106 "Writhe in Pain ~Millia's Theme~"

This resubmission was a major improvement over the first sub. Only two sticking points.

1. The encoding is too low. Bump it up to try and reach 6MB with VBR.

2. With the exception of the very loud (probably a bit too much so) close from 3:19-3:42/end, the instrumentation was still flat.

I can live with the samples sounding synthetic, but they at least need the power that real instruments would have with this kind of composition. For example, the sampled brass from 2:10-2:18 sounded so thin. Beef it up; that doesn't just mean raise the volume. Use more layering and/or effects to flesh out the instruments that are meant to sound organic.

Almost everything right now sounded noticeably tame on the production side, but clearly headed in the right direction. Unfortunately, I can't give you much specific advice on how to remedy those things, but hopefully some other Js can and will.

The arrangement was pretty strong to me, Jahan, so good luck on the rest of the vote. You did a great job of taking the criticisms of the panel in stride and coming back with a vastly improved piece. I think you have what it takes to get this unique and interpretive arrangement up on the site!

NO (borderline/resubmit)

EDIT: Whoops! Must have gotten confused, had no idea what I was voting on there. Anyways, back to sanity (thanks JJT and Liontamer):

I think this sounded pretty good, however, the way some instruments were used didn't make proper use of the samples (flute fluttering 0.56-1.01 and at 1.49 for example) and this makes the whole thing sound very unnatural. From 3.05 onwards, rather than sounding like the instruments were playing with a higher velocity, it just sounds like the volume was turned up - again, it just doesn't sound natural.

NO

edit: no problem Malcos, we're here to keep eachother in check

moving on,

this is a very nicely done, creative arrangement. i can tell a lot of work has gone into this one.

as far as sound quality goes, this sounds like it could be the score on a mid to low budget fantasy movie from the 80s.

So in essence, what we're dealing with is a well conceived idea executed with cheesy sounds.

Orchestral sucks in this regard, because it's soooo hard to make it sound decent.

The woodwinds are really hurting, especially the brass.

This isn't gonna pass, but it's borderline for me. Since i want to see some more judges weigh in (and keeping consistent with my arrangebias) I'll make it a borderline YES.

So,

YES

The arrangement is indeed pretty strong overall. I feel like there are a good amount of dynamics from section to section. Execution is really the weakest area, with the samples sounding too exposed in several different sections (where they're soloed). The percussion and strings are both pretty solid, but the brass staccatos and the woodwinds are generally not so great. Those can be really hard to nail down with samples, no question about it, but I'm confident that there's good stuff out there for free. Might want to talk to blizihizake, or if you can't get ahold of him, consult w/ people on the ReMixing forum. If things are still sounding unrealistic and mechanical even after a sample upgrade, consider writing the parts differently to accomodate - for example, layering brass and string marcato hits. Also, while the quality of the string marcatos was mostly good, you had some riffs that sounded somewhat mechanical. Try going back to those and alternating velocites more (or even samples) to achieve a more realistic effect.

Anyway, I feel like this is on the border. The arrangement has no major problems and takes a fairly interesting perspective on the original, but the execution falls slightly short. You're close, just keep at it.

NO

Very creative arrangement! The harpsichord rolls and low brass blats towards the beginning are effective. Unfortunately, the choppiness of the flute and clarinet (?) parts detract a lot from that introduction. As Malcos pointed out, the fluttering that begins at 0:55 simply sounds unnatural.

I think everyone's already mentioned this, but your brass samples just aren't cutting it. The harpsichord starts to sound very mechanical at it's reentrance just before the two minute mark. Too rhythmic! It's a shame, considering the amount of thought you've put into your part-writing.

2:42 strings sound strange up until the accelerando is really underway. The woodwinds that follow are, once again, choppy and strange. I think that whole transition is a little awkward; chimes are a notorious cliché- something you throw in when nothing else comes to mind. Avoid if possible. ^_~

From 3:04 on, I was very impressed. That's why I wish that section had been further extended! It's great that you ended with such force, but it seemed abrupt simply because of the length.

All in all, I must commend you on a very enjoyable arrangement. Your production isn't living up to the same standards, though. See if you can find some better samples, and play more with dynamics and articulation. Don't be afraid to ask for assistance in the WIP/ReMixing forums!

NO