1. Descent Into The Mines
   liquidwind
2. Neverland
   Gario
3. 
   

Both arrangements are very well made, so again, it falls to the demons of subjectivity and maybe a titch of objectivity.

1) liquidwind - mix and production isn't as bad as you suggest - perhaps the most exposed 'instrument' is the choirs, but I felt they were a nice touch nonetheless. The beat and bass, including that wobble-thingy (dubstep?) were pretty cool. Bell sample is pretty swag too. I can def. feel the extra effort put into this one liquidwind, so good job mang!

2) Gario - Pretty decent take as well; didn't *feel* overly conservative - certainly within the MnP range for sure, but still a very unique sound over-all. The muffled drums might be a tad too muffled, as the rest of the soundscape is a lot more in front (except maybe the pad) - could just be personal preference. Maybe some nice wet 'verby delay on the snare would go a long way, at least, I'd prob go that path lol. Still, this is pretty good and makes for easy listening, so good stuff Gario - thanks for participating!

Thank you both!

1. Neverland
   Gario
2. Descent Into The Mines
   liquidwind
3. 
   

liquidwind: I'm extremely ambivalent about this one. I -love- the arrangement. It's a little more industrial than the source, so not so MnP in that regard, but the ambient/industrial mixup worked really well. Excellent instrumental choices and use. What really brought this down was the mixing. Volume levels were all over the place. I had to turn the volume up and down constantly to be able to hear everything and not hurt my ears. Instrumental balance was way off, too. Normally I'm not a stickler for that sort of thing, but it was pretty bad here. There were also some dissonant notes near the end.

Gario: At first I was really concerned that the ubiquitous square arp wasn't going to be compatible with the ethereal nature of the source, and thus not be MnP enough, but when the pad kicked in, it all clicked. And it gets kicked up another notch when the drums start up. Great stuff from Gario as usual. I'd love to see a more complete mix made from this as a starting point.

hoboka: The piano and brass are really out of place here--the cheapo brass sounds especially bad, and the piano goes badly with the backing where it's used. The flute is OK, but I'm sure a better ear would have a problem with it, too. Could do without the whole first minute, it just sounds thin. With better brass, though, the mix from 1:00 on would be really good, great job of capturing the feel of the original while keeping it fresh and full.

1. Descent Into The Mines
   liquidwind
2. 
   
3. 
   

Ooo, very nice arrangement from Liquidwind. Some of the notes are off, but other than that it's a pretty solid submission - would be surprised if he didn't win this match-up.

Hoboka's submission isn't bad either - it's not as interesting as Liquidwinds track, but it IS more tonally correct. Some of the harmony work was interesting, too.

Sheesh, I'm the most boring one here, lol.

1. Neverland
   Gario
2. 
   
3. 
   

gario - I like the square rhythm/arp thing that plays throughout. could be longer though, the end feels like it's teasing at something for a moment but it never happens

hoboka - also like the arp in yours, you did well capturing the donkey kong country aesthetic on this

1. Neverland
   Gario
2. Descent Into The Mines
   liquidwind
3. 
   

Liquidwind- I enjoy this moody vibe, and the drill samples really ramp up the creepy factor. your percussion samples seem too loud too me, they distract from the ambience of the peice, which is what im assuming you were going for. The sound design you were going for is pretty nice though!

Gario- I personally would give that saw wave pad ( i think thats what it is) some more very subtle movement during the part where theres drums. right now it just sortof sustains over the course of each note. you could have some subtle vibrato near the end of each note. I would also maybe layer it with some sort of percussive element during the parts where theres not drums playing. like maybe a synth pluck or a big taiko drum hit, something so that theres more to it than just the riser. It sounds real nice though, especially when the drums hit.

Hoboka- humanize those flutes! its also a bit odd to have them panned to the left, to my ears at least. The samples here were a bit dry sounding in some places, but i think you did well overall with the arrangement here.

1. Neverland
   Gario
2. Descent Into The Mines
   liquidwind
3. 
   

Old username is old. Anyway, I liked what Gario did, especially about a minute into his mix when the rhythm comes in. I dunno, there was something about liquidwind's mix that I found less enjoyable than Gario's. Sorry man