djpretzel Report post Posted February 18, 2008 OverClocked ReMix judge and director of the Final Fantasy VII tribute album Voices of the Lifestream (http://ff7.ocremix.org) Andrew "zircon" Aversa was recently voted the winner of SquareSound's (www.squaresound.com) "A Tribute to Nobuo Uematsu" Arrangement Competition. The winning participant out of 53 entries with his Final Fantasy VI medley "Dirt Devil," Aversa earned a combined score of 96.22%. zircon walked away with the grand prize of a limited edition promotional copy of Voices of the Lifestream, and two VIP tickets to the March 1, 2008 performance of Distant Worlds: Music from Final Fantasy (www.ffdistantworlds.com), including the official concert program and limited edition CD, performed by the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra. The tickets to the Chicago concert include entrance to the exclusive meet-and-greet with Final Fantasy series composer Nobuo Uematsu following the performance.Emerging as runner-up was Kenley Kristofferson, who runs the Into the Score podcast (www.intothescore.com) dedicated to the academic study of video game music, with his own Final Fantasy VI medley, "Hundreds of Voices (Swinging in Unison!)." All of the entries are available for download on SquareSound's website, and Aversa's winning piece was recently posted to OverClocked ReMix (www.ocremix.org).Larry "Liontamer" Oji, OC ReMix's head submissions evaluator and among the competition's four judges, noted the prestige of what was at stake: "It was definitely a privilege to judge such an important competition from SquareSound, with a very meaningful first prize on the line. Having the opportunity to meet any composer in person, let alone Nobuo Uematsu, and express one's fandom and thanks is something a lot of musicians in the community don't have the good fortune to experience."zircon will be attending Distant Worlds with girlfriend and fellow OC ReMix judge Jillian "pixietricks" Goldin. Having created Voices of the Lifestream, Aversa hopes to present his awarded copy of the album to Uematsu in person: "Both Jill and myself are really excited to see Distant Worlds and meet Mr. Uematsu, even if only briefly. We're huge fans of his music; between the two of us, we've remixed over a dozen of his compositions. I personally consider him to be my all-time favorite video game music composer. It will be a dream come true if I can personally hand him a copy of Voices of the Lifestream."Links:*SquareSound: Andrew Aversa Wins Our Tribute to Nobuo Uematsu Arrangement Competition!*SquareSound*Distant Worlds: Music from Final Fantasy*Andrew "zircon" Aversa at OverClocked ReMix*Kenley Kristofferson at Into the Score*Larry "Liontamer" Oji at VG Frequency*Jillian "pixietricks" Goldin at OverClocked ReMix*Nobuo Uematsu (植松伸夫) at OverClocked ReMix*Voices of the Lifestream Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
herograw Report post Posted February 18, 2008 zircon walked away with the grand prize of a limited edition promotional copy of Voices of the Lifestream...hehe, congrats Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lanodantheon Report post Posted February 18, 2008 Gratz Zircon. Break out the fine china, chill the lemonade, wrap the colored ribbon 'round the old oak tree my man. You earned it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Patrick Burns Report post Posted February 18, 2008 Wow, that's awesome. Congratulationsgiving him a copy of votls will be awesome Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kitty Report post Posted February 18, 2008 You are the luckiest man alive. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dafydd Report post Posted February 18, 2008 Well done!limited edition CD, performed by the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic OrchestraI had tickets for their live concert but had to sell them to a friend - the choir I sing in were the supporting act for Antony and the Johnsons that same night. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
anosou Report post Posted February 18, 2008 Well done!I had tickets for their live concert but had to sell them to a friend - the choir I sing in were the supporting act for Antony and the Johnsons that same night.I was there with AeroZ, it rawked. The CD is so-so because of sloppy performances by vocalists and orchestra though some pieces are truly amazing and weighs that up. Listen to the trumpet solo in Brass de Chocobo! That's just great playing (and a good guy too, he's a friend of my fathers ;P). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hausdog Report post Posted February 18, 2008 Can I get a WHOOP WHOOP!Great work on winning the competition. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Didaji Report post Posted February 18, 2008 Congratulations ! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jayc4life Report post Posted February 18, 2008 Congratulations Andrew, but it's a bit of a bummer winning a side-prize in which you played a vital role in creating. At least you get to meet the man himself in the end-up though, so that's something in itself. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Liontamer Report post Posted February 18, 2008 Congratulations Andrew, but it's a bit of a bummer winning a side-prize in which you played a vital role in creating. At least you get to meet the man himself in the end-up though, so that's something in itself.Seems cool that the thing he created was good enough to merit being a prize, and that he'll have the opportunity to hand it to Nobuo Uematsu. Where's the downside again? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
zircon Report post Posted February 18, 2008 Thanks guys! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The Instrumental Light Report post Posted February 19, 2008 Congratulations on the award! This is really cool; i'm speachless. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
big giant circles Report post Posted February 19, 2008 who's this zircon? sum noob? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SwordBreaker Report post Posted February 19, 2008 As I mentioned in the review thread of your entry, congrats man.When are you and Jill going to the concert? I'm definitely interested in pictures and paragraphs of your experience, especially when you hand Mr. Uematsu Voices of a Lifestream. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
zircon Report post Posted February 19, 2008 It's March 1st, so we'll be heading up Feb 29th.. probably will not have internet at the hotel so you might not hear back until the 2nd or 3rd. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Siamey Report post Posted February 19, 2008 Dude! congrats! you totally gotta tell us about your encounter with the great one.Did he speak english? Was there a translator? What was his reaction to remixes? Maybe he'll check out ocremix and shiz!!!!Awesome Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nutritious Report post Posted February 19, 2008 Congrats on the win Zirc, it's well deserved.And LOL to sixth place for me. Can't get any closer yet still end up empty-handed Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
richter Report post Posted February 19, 2008 That's awesome zircon. Congratulations! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lifeformed Report post Posted February 20, 2008 Nice job!I got 9th, which I'm happy with (it's only my 3rd song (or first remix)). I can't wait to see the full judging reports with comments so I can see how to improve. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WarpstarRider Report post Posted February 20, 2008 At least I managed to stay out of last place. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tk Report post Posted February 20, 2008 A fantastic arrangement as always zircon, Devil's Lab is a favourite of mine and I couldn't think of a reason why it didn't deserve the score I gave it, which seems to have been echoed by Larry and Sebastian too.Will you be meeting up with Tim and Michael Gluck at the concert at all? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
zircon Report post Posted February 22, 2008 A fantastic arrangement as always zircon, Devil's Lab is a favourite of mine and I couldn't think of a reason why it didn't deserve the score I gave it, which seems to have been echoed by Larry and Sebastian too.Will you be meeting up with Tim and Michael Gluck at the concert at all?Thanks! Yeah, I'm definitely going to try to meet up with them. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Katsurugi Report post Posted February 23, 2008 One can only wonder what would happen if I entered. In my mind, I would win it all, the CD, meeting Nobou (whom I'd affectionately call Noob) and getting pixietricks as my lover. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The Pezman Report post Posted February 25, 2008 See if you can get Uematsu to submit something here of his own.Liek, for reals.No, I'm not kidding. How freakin' awesome would that be...? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites