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Well here are a few tips based on some grueling experiences I went through licensing my tracks, hope they help. To start, I use https://soundrop.com/ as my distro service; it's not as fast or as friendly as it used to be unfortunately (live chat disappeared in favor of a slow ticketing service, for example), but I still get monthly play reports and it's great about regularly adding (and including your materials) on new platforms as they become available. As to licensing the music, here's the kicker: they require proof of a U.S. release of the original track. That means before you even want to try licensing something, see if the source soundtrack album exists on Apple Music or Amazon (the two they put the most stock in). (That part also used to be easier, but the restrictions changed a few years ago.) If you can hunt down an ISRC (album) or UPC code (track), even better! Musicbrainz.org is a great resource for that. For example: https://musicbrainz.org/search?query=Grim+Fandango&type=release&limit=25&method=indexed Each track you want to license gives you a spot to include a write-up, so come with everything - track title from the game, composer, soundtrack title, official album release links, codes... you'll be in good shape. If the track you're licensing has multiple source tunes, be prepared to include both in the description. Sadly there's a ton of material I couldn't license after maaaaany attempts, because even though I could prove US game release, note the production company and show the Wikipedia article, there was no official album. Doom 2, for example. I found some album records online but if you look closely they say "bootleg" as the "status" and that doesn't work well. Not official enough. Anyways I hope that helps, take care!

yeah, i think the vocals stuff is generally among the least problematic regarding A.I. use. just my 2 c. btw...i didn't even think of the obvious in my last post... a screenshot of the arrangement window of your sequencer is pretty decent proof that you atleast put some level of work into your remix. it doesn't say anything about where the MIDI data came from, of course. that could always be (partly) A.I. generated. but if a mix from a newcomer seems sus, asking for a screenshot of the project would be one means of clarification...atleast somewhat.

I have a particular use case for AI that I'm interested in getting others' opinions on. I'm working on revising and remastering a piece for resubmission. I perhaps too ambitiously decided to feature a choir singing Irish. In my original mix I tried very hard to finagle EW Hollywood Choirs' Wordbuilder system syllable by syllable based on online audio recordings of each individual word, but after hours of work I'm not very happy with the result. It's not a huge deal, since epic choirs are not usually expected to be understandable, but I worked hard on the lyrics and translation and I'd love to hear them more genuinely represented in the final version. Lately I've been eyeing AI voice transformers. It appears possible to record myself singing Irish, transform my voice into a handful of AI-generated voices, and layer those with Hollywood Choir's samples to create something that sounds like a choir actually singing in Irish. In this case nothing would be "generated by feeding a prompt into AI-software." The AI would instead be fed a recording of my voice and would duplicate the notes in a new, generated voice. My creative activity would not be too different from what I currently do with samples of choirs and instruments: every note and expression would be my creative choice, but the actual sound would not be created by me. I'm curious what others think about this. AI as a whole generally feels icky to me, not the least because AI companies are notoriously unscrupulous about using others' work for training their models, without compensation. On the other hand, some companies at least claim to be ethical in this regard; kits.ai for instance says that their models are trained using audio recorded by contracted and compensated session vocalists. This seems no different from how EastWest obtained the audio which they sampled for their choirs. My other option would be to record my wife and try to duplicate her voice with enough differentiation using a variety of filters and effects. My wife is doubtful about this working well, however! What do you all think? Acceptable use case? Not acceptable?

That background video is cool as fuck

Hey there. That's a fair take, and I understand if and when people have a strong reaction to a beloved song or OST of theirs, and SeeDs/FFVIII is no exception. I'm...a bit upset by this, honestly, but you respectively are entitled to your opinion and feelings, and I'm sure you won't be the first or last in this regard. My music--as is obvious even on the Judges' Panel--is seemingly very...divisive...be it because of how I went about producing and mixing it or the composition itself. At the time, I was pretty chuffed and proud of this remix...given when it happened, the work it took, and the final result...but I'd be remiss to say that this amongst other things kind of hits me in a way where currently I have to disassociate my emotions from my logic brain...and all I can say is this: Thank you for your honesty in the end, and all I can do is apologize that this version of the Extreme doesn't resonate with you. Quite a few of my remixes, even if or when they make it past the bar, has that issue. Perhaps it's "growing pains", as people call it. This track was a first for many things for me: 100+ track mixing, in-depth vocal mixing that isn't just ad libs here or there or chopped loops, rapping to my own musical shit, etc. By no means is any of this an excuse to have what may in fact be a...less-than-stellar remix, and people will say I'm being harsh on myself in behind your retuned review, but I digress. It is what it is. ...I'm unsure if I'll ever come back to this and do a re-cut / deep-cut and change it drastically as I get better at this game, but again, I'm very sorry to you and anybody else who just couldn't or didn't vibe with this. I chose this track and the other sources I sewed into it because they, too, deeply resonated with me, as both a casual listener and as an artist. FF8 in particular is the dark horse / black sheep and underrated game of the series, and I chose SeeDs as my first jumping off point because at the time I felt brave enough to do so and I like the game and OST, despite its flaws, and equally my own flaws and trepidation to dare try. I...don't know. Be that as it may, I'm glad I did, I'm sad it didn't work for you, and I'll...just have to try harder and better next time. I, and I'm sure the rest of us here, appreciate your hard work in reviewing our tracks and being real with yourself in this instance to just tell it like it is to me. I'd rather have a genuine reaction than a falsehood to my work. People doubting it and me are inevitable and I'll just...try again to pick up the pieces and continue onward. I'm not letting another creative writing or art pursuit flop happen again. . . This is about as genuine and positive I can be in this moment in response to ya. . . :) And it's not a reflection on you, but on myself in how poorly I look at my OWN work and person. Introspection is a bitch. Thanks again. I'll take all of your points and do what I can with them on future projects or further revisions to past ones. Take care of yourself and speak soon. o/

I've been listening to this for many years (nearly 20 maybe at this point) and I still love it!

Oh, snap!!! It's updated, @CJthemusicdude!! Thank you so much, @Liontamer! ♡

I was going to give this an official name (something better than "Tools we use"), but I wanted to start a post that lists some VSTs (free and paid) that I know a good number of us use for mixing. This is not intended to be a clone of a list of all possible VSTs, or like 2 people in our community use it so we put it here. It's intended to be a place to find out what others use in our space that we find particularly useful. Just replying with a simple name of a product isn't good enough for me to put it on the list (for the reason I stated above) - though you can always respond with plugins you personally found among the most useful (or just most used in each song). I want to avoid this being a junk drawer that has no real value. The value will come with a curated list of tools that we feel are worthy. For a list of DAWs we use and to find performers of specific instruments, please visit https://ocremix.org/workshop or ask in our discord. ? Sage Recommended 1. Instruments 1.1 Drums Addictive Drums by xln audio ($159 || complete: $869) [drums] ML Drums by ML Sound Lab (free) [drums] Steven Slate Drums by steven slate drums (free || $119) [drums] toontrack EZDrummer ($179) [drums] ? Superior Drummer ($399) [drums] 1.2 Samplers Native Instruments ? Kontakt (player: free || regular: $299) [sampler] [instrument building tool] Heritage Percussion by Impact Soundworks (free) [sampler] [tribal percussion] ? Super Audio Cart by Impact Soundworks (gameboy: free || complete: $149) [sampler] [chiptune] Shreddage 3 by Impact Soundworks [sampler] [guitar] Free -> Precision (free) [bass] & Stratus (free) [electric guitar] Hydra ($149) [electric guitar] - this one is my favorite of the Shreddage Line Impact Soundworks collection has a lot of instruments difficult to find, such as the Oud ($99) Spectrasonics: Keyscape ($399) [sampler] [piano] Trillian ($299) [sampler] [synth] [bass] Spitfire Audio Spitfire Labs - free [sampler] [textures] [orchestral] [live instruments] Notable Lab Instruments: ? Arctic Swells, ? Astral Forms, ? Frozen Strings, Strings, Strings 2, Amplified Cello Quartet BBC Symphony Orchestra (free) [sampler] [orchestral] 1.3 Synths Native Instruments FM8 ($149) [fm synth] Massive X ($199) [wavetable synth] Reaktor ($199) [modular synth] Odin (free and open source) [semi-modular synth] ? Phase Plant by Kilohearts ($199) [semi-modular synth] Pigment by Arturia ($199) [wavetable synth] ? Serum by Xfer ($189) [wavetable synth] Spectrasonics: ? Omnipshere ($499) [hybrid synth] [wavetable synth] Trillian ($299) [sampler] [synth] [bass] Spire by Reveal Sounds ($189) [synth] Surge XT (free and open source) [hybrid synth] VCV Rack (free || pro: $149) [modular synth] ? Vital (free || pro $80 || subscribe $5/month) [wavetable synth] Zebralette (free) [spectral synth] 2. Effects Deelay by sixthsample (free) ? Guitar Rig by Native Instruments (player: free || pro: $199) Helix Native by Line 6 ($399) [guitar amp] illformed Effects: dBlue Glitch (free but may require jbridge) [glitch] [stutter] Glitch 2 ($59.95) [glitch] [stutter] iZotope: Stutter Edit ($199) [glitch] [stutter] Vinyl (free) [vinyl record] ? Kilohearts Essentials by Kilohearts (free) Slate Digital Fresh Air (free) [vintage exciter circuits and advanced dynamics processing] TH-U by Overloud ($269) Valhalla Effects: ? Super Massive (free) [reverb] Vintage ($50) [reverb] Delay ($50) [delay] Xfer: ? OTT (free) 3. Utilities FabFilter (Pro Q 3: $169) iZotope Utilities: ? Ozone (elements: $49 || standard: $199 || advanced: $399) ? RX (elements: $49 || standard: $299 || advanced: $799) SPAN by Voxengo (free) [eq analysis] TBProAudio ISOL8 (free) [Mix monitoring tool] Tokyo Dawn TDR NOVA (free || ge: €60) [equalizer] Kotelnikov (free || ge: €50) [wideband dynamics processor] 4. Non-DAW Tools Brad the Mad's Tempo Calculator (free) [Chart, lists given bpm subdivisions as ms and Hz; chart goes from 60 bpm to 179 bpm] Tuneform's Tempo Calculator (free) [converts bpm to ms] MIDI CC List (free) [Chart, lists common CC uses] Virtual Instrument Delay Chart (free) [Google Sheet, lists delay offsets for most orchestral sample libraries] Tap Tempo (free) [Webapp, click or tap a key in time with a piece of music to get its tempo] Notes ? Native Instruments offers a starter pack with several of the recommended tools called Komplete Start (free) Free(ish) DAWs (https://bedroomproducersblog.com/2015/11/11/free-daw-software/ - he updates this regularly): Reaper Cakewalk Sibelius GarageBand Audacity (audio) Cheap Stuff / Sales Black Friday / Day after Christmas / Spring / Summer usually have sales Humble Bundle often has VSTs, sfx, and samples. Heavyvocity has some good textural tools (instruments & effects) Sample Packs: 99 Sounds’ (free) 99 Sounds’ two 99 Drum sample packs (free) To Add To Review SINE Player, Soundpaint, Musio Orchestral Tools, 8Dio NES VST

Here are some of my recommended tools I've used the most (I'll mark which ones were already mentioned as "*"): Drums (Libraries) - *ISW Shreddage Drums Heavocity Damage Drums (Samples) - I always go back to these Platinum Percussion (great for world music) BHK D&B Rough Connections Vol. 4, Bladerunner Dread Drum & Bass (for fast music) Equipped Music - Smoker's Relight Vol. 1, Vol. 2 (for Downtempo music) Black Octopus Leviathan (for hardcore EDM) Goldbaby Drums (MPC60 Vol. 1-3, When Alien Drum Robots Attack Vol. 1-2, for general use) Synths - I always go back to these *u-he Zebra2 (for practically ALL of my music honestly) *Xfer Records Serum (mostly for dubstep) Samples - 4Front TruePianos (physical model actually) *Spectrasonics Omnisphere, Trilian ISW PEARL: Concert Grand (truly an amazing Yamaha C7) ISW Resonance: Emotional Mallets (mostly for glassy percussion) Embertone Friedlander Violin and Blakus Cello (usually as solo instruments) OTS Evolution Acoustic Guitar (Steel Strings) Neo-Soul Suitcase (realistic electric piano, if I wasn't satisfied with just synthesizing that in Zebra2) Transitions (Samples) - I always go back to these ISW Juggernaut: Cinematic Electronic Scoring Tools Effects - u-he Uhbik (mostly "T" [tremolo] and "G" [granular]) *Guitar Rig Effects (free or nearly so) - Variety of Sounds Density MKIII (compressor), NastyDLA MKII (delay) *kiloHearts Essentials (most notably, Ring Modulator and Transient Shaper) ISW SNESVerb (SNES reverb emulator, $20) digitalfishphones endorphin (compressor) *dBlue Glitch v1.3 (free) and v2 ($60) Lofi Plus (bitcrusher; hard to find, let me know if you need a link) Sonalksis FreeG Stereo (Gate Plugin) Misc (free) - I always go back to these s(M)exoscope (spectroscope to check waveform loudness) *TDR Nova (Equalizer with Sum and Difference capabilities) TLs-Pocket Limiter (simple, soft knee limiter. Never got overcompression since!)

It's great to see new policy forged in my absence. I do expect this stance to change & evolve over time, as the tech also changes over time. As written, the first line mentions "a prompt" (singular) but then further down it mentions "tracks generated wholly or in part" and cites a couple of those shiny new services. I agree that music generated by a single short text prompt doesn't come remotely close to the expectations and concept of this site, or any similar community which emphasizes the creative process & human decision-making extensively. Right there with you on that one. My mind just tends to then jump to all the future hypotheticals that will one day crop up: What if it was 5 prompts instead of one? What about.... 50 prompts? 100? What if was just one prompt, but instead of text it was someone singing a complete arrangement and tapping their fingers on the table and the AI took that, respected all the beats/intervals, and built out the whole track around that concept? All will be possible, at some point... It really comes down to a ratio of input to output & the overall amount of human discretion and time involved. What I expect is that these lines will only get blurrier & blurrier, and more difficult to assess, as AI-based tooling becomes ubiquitous within DAWs and as part of creative pipelines, not just as a soup-to-nuts prompt-based magic track generator. I also do wonder about traceability/proof - beyond asking for project files as evidence of effort, seems like it would mostly be honor system. Even asking for project files will only work until AI is proficient enough to understand & navigate DAW interfaces and work within human-oriented tools, allowing for further human refinement. It's all a matter of time, and just more to consider when it arises. The ethicality argument, well... I don't think you actually need to go there, so I personally wouldn't. People learn from & mimic other people, just not at the same speed & scale as AI, and the body of work in the public domain alone is sufficient for a pretty badass model, even if that's not the approach Big Tech seems to have taken. The issue of creative input ratio is not only more critical, it also persists even if you (somehow) fix any ethical concerns.

Like many here, I owe so much to this compo. T'was a tremendous proving ground to help develop musicianship and meet amazing artists, but also a beacon of hope encouraging me to come back to music times and again in spite of hardships. ? If you feel like keeping the flame alive once a year, that would be awesome and mighty kind of you. I'll most definitely partake. ✨

Very difficult question. I will not answer with Bundeslang. So many different styles and genres. Favorite is also a very hard term, I fill this in as personal like the most (and genre helps with this). Still (to mention one name) I go for one of the names in the beginning of the contest: Sir Nuts. Perhaps we can do a contest/round one day (maybe a yearly free round or something like that), who knows...

I have been summoned! Honestly, I'm glad I was because my original review was weak sauce. I couldn't really tell you the differences between this version and the one I heard originally, so this is basically a fresh review. In my quest to review as many OCremixes as I can, I found myself defaulting to giving a positive review to each and every review. I know how much of a difference even a small review or comment can make, and I wanted to be that positive force that encouraged others to make music! However, I have a very long and personal relationship with the FF8 soundtrack. And the Extreme is one of my favorite boss themes of all time. It is a soundtrack I am deeply familiar with and I'll be completely honest, I am not a fan of this remix. My original review was glib because I didn't say what I wanted to say. So my apologies to you for not leaving a genuine review. You are going to get one now though, definitely the longest review I've ever done on this site! (So far). I will try to be as constructive as I can with this review, and keep in mind this is all subjective opinion. I very much applaud and appreciate what you've done here and the clear care and passion you put into this. I'll start with what I enjoy. The transition to the spoken work/rap section from 6:00 to 6:24 was my favorite part of the track, those wood blocks were FIRE. The rap section and the spoken word bits in general were very cool. The intro soundscape was very enjoyable, specifically the first 30 seconds. and the usage of the FITHOS LUSEC WECOS VINOSEC source was very well done. On to my criticisms. My first one is the pacing of the remix. In my original review I mentioned that it uses the time well. Upon further review, I do not think that is not the case. Even though I think the intro is very cool, 3 minutes to ramp up into the energetic portion of the song is way too long, it could have been it's own remix and would have been great but in the context of a single remix it overstays its' welcome. I think a good minute could have been cut from the intro. Even though I enjoyed the rap section, it was way too short and felt very out of place, it really felt like it should be its' own remix as well. The long length of this remix doesn't really give me a good chance to latch onto anything in particular and kind of causes the whole remix to wash over you like a fog. My second criticism from a musical standpoint is that in the "Tension and Release" aspect of music, there was too much tension and not enough release. To start, after the song-length intro. We get to some energetic stuff starting at 2:52. That part was very cool, like many of the transitions in this remix. The rhythmic chanting voices, that super cool Buzzy bass.... the strings that come in at 2:58 were weak, but not a deal-breaker... but then it just kind of... shifts to 3:04 - 3:15. After all that build up and a cool transition it just kind of flops. I felt musically blue-balled, and it wouldn't be the last time. My favorite part of the original source is that epic climatic section that dives right into the somber piano/harp. It kind of encapsulates everything that makes the Extreme such a good boss music and a great representative of Ultimicia. However in this remix, I didn't get any of that. I felt like I got played at 5:04 and 5:26 and once again at 8:34. From a creative standpoint, I appreciate the subversion of the expectation, but as an enjoyer of the source, it felt incredibly unsatisfying. Production is a bit off as well. Everything felt kind of flimsy. Some of the lead synth instruments really needed some protein. (Especially that lead that comes in at 3:58.) The drums barely had any presence (Especially the snares) and tended to be very repetitive. The end result is that a lot of this remix doesn't really pack any sort of punch. Again, I hope this review doesn't discourage you. There are things I liked about this remix and would probably like more if this remix was chopped up into more cohesive regular sized remixes. Keep making cool music! 😄