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If there hasn't been a listening party, I can do one today. 8PM EDT.

Jameson, your remix this week reminded me so much of this scene from Family Guy: (also, excellent advice)

I like the idea of having a thread for reviews, maybe a separate thread for each round?

Great to see this album finally here! Patience well rewarded, a lot of jewels in a large variety of styles! After a first listening, it will be difficult for me to list all track which really marked me, so much there was. I'm almost impressive by arrangement on tracks whose originals wasn't really marking IMO("Fixations", "Into the Sandstorm", "Four Score and Six-Eight"). Very much interesting tracks in this album. I retain also : - "To Be Forgotten", really surprising knowing original and so nostalgic - "I Am Gonna Stop Eventually" where Brandon has a new time managed to surprise us by using a new style - "Corra!" not really surprising, but so powerful! - " Knight-wit" I didn't expected this style for this track, but I love it ! - " Vamo alla Django" Impressed by virtuosity of artists. Style original and welcome ! I tried to make an eclectic selection. But a lot of other tracks are really great ! Thanks to OCR and to the artist for this album ! I've really found in it the tribute that the OST deserved

Man, now this one is a lot of fun! So much groove, and that organ! Digging the Kirby voice clip and the background vocal interjections in the second half. Lots of energy, I love it! Great Mix, man.

Oh god, what an infectious groove! Mattias is a true genius. So awesome.

First thing I have to say in this "review" is that I think that maestro Uematsu's music for this masterpiece is perfect, and when I say perfect I really mean perfect, "as it is". I had to listen to the whole album twice to start understanding something... you know, more than 50 tracks, more than 50 musicians, everyone with his own style and influences... It's not an "easy-listening" album, even you are used at listening prog music as I am and even if you are the biggest fan of Final Fantasy IX on Earth, as I am. So... after the second listening it was almost 3 am, I was very tired of course and I was... fully disappointed. I expected more from you guys. I think many of us can say that Uematsu's masterpiece of the original soundtrack is "You are not alone". Half of the hype of the last 5 years for me was for this song. The version of Poolside and Amanda looked a lot strange to me, not fitting to the original mood of course, and it was a kind of sacrilege to me. I went to sleep, woke up and I suddendly found myself under the shower screaming "I'LL WAIT FOR YOOOOOU UNTIL OUR SOOOOULS ARE TOOORN APAAAAART". And I now I'm listening to Worlds Apart for the third time and I feel ashamed cause now I know that I can be a stupid fanboy too, "corroded so much by the waiting" (hope it's proper english) to not be able to recognize some great music when I listen to it. Thank you Fishy, thank you OC community, hope I'll have the skills to work with you one day. (as always sorry for my poor english)

Well, repeats are fine, but some variation on the repeats goes a long way. I find that sometimes repeats can help bring a sense of familiarity to the piece, whereas a piece that continuously changes could feel too unpredictable. If you can find yourself happy with what you make as you make it, I think that'll help you take the time to polish it more.

It's not too bad for a few days, early on in your music composing experience. The mixing sounds alright, but the instrumentation is pretty simple, and the arrangement has a bunch of looping (copy+paste). I think you could work more on having more nuance to your sounds and thinking more outside the box when writing your arrangement. It's really close to the original, and doesn't add that much new. Keep at it!

I like the overall remix - IMO the drums and the low sawtooth-y synth are a little high in the mix, kind of overpower the melody synth in the first section. But I think this would be awesome with one or two level adjustments.

I cant even begin to think of where to begin. Everywhere i turn there is audio awesomeness. Kate once again proves every bit Pixie's equal. Amanda delivers a truly surprising awesome performance. Natalya and Seth pull off the near impossible imo in remixing a remix and making it FIT. Melodies of Life was an absolute shocker. I looked at the timer before the first note played and thought it was an error...Then the second part of the song hit. Mind=Blown. Freya...I'll say what I said on twitter. My favorite character of the entire FF series. My personal archetype of a character and a story of redemption I just loved start to finish. Her theme was as well done as I could hope for. FF6 was a long time dream fulfilled hearing the Opera in its entirety with the Aria being my capstone. In FF9 I only hoped for staying true to the game in all its awesomeness and faults. Well, you people somehow managed to pull off underpromising and overdelivering with this one. You people could drop the microphone right now your mark on the world of music made forever with what you've released recently. Personally I want you people to bind that microphone to your hands with adamantium wire. Long Live OCremix. God has sent you all to earth with a purpose. And you all have found it.

...You people are absolutely out of your fucking minds. And i pray to god you never find them... Five years Five very long years... And worth every blessed second of wait. I didnt think anything could stand to the monumental FF6 album Balance and Ruin. This...this did. You people continue to hit it out of the park in ways I couldn't even begin to dream of. My hat is off to all of you once again.

When I think Tactical RPG, I think more along the lines of Final Fantasy Tactics or Fire Emblem. Assuming that's what you have in mind, the main series that stands out for me is Shining Force. Shining Force I & II are both Genesis games. They're fun, but admittedly there is a bit of level-grinding around the middle (though nowhere near as bad as FF Tactics). If I didn't play them emulated with the ability to speed up things, it probably would've been a little more irritating. Nevertheless, the strategy is good, and the fact that nearly all battles are story-related (i.e., very few random encounters) helps to keep it from feeling repetitive. Shining Force III is one of my favorites. It contains a very epic story that spans across three episodes. That is, there are three separate games, each of which is from a different character's perspective, and they're interrelated such that certain events in one game affect certain events in the next. The strategy is challenging, and while it doesn't require leveling up per se, I did find it really difficult without a bit of grinding. Unfortunately, there are two major down-side: it's only for Saturn, and only the first episode was ever translated. (...I have a Japanese Saturn and all three episodes, so this wasn't a problem in my case, but the rarity might make it prohibitively expensive.) So, well, if it's not apparent from my signature and name I can elaborate a bit on this {^^}. To give a few 10-second reviews of the games (not counting imports)... - Lunar: Silver Star Story (PS1): Major overhaul of the first Lunar game (The Silver Star for SCD). Feels like a classic JRPG though with a richer backstory and mythology. It's not my favorite of the series, but it sets up the universe and is relatively the easiest one to find. I didn't find it terribly difficult, but I've heard varying opinions on the challenge level. - Lunar: Eternal Blue Complete (PS1): Remake of the second Lunar game (Eternal Blue for SCD). This is a more epic and longer JRPG and goes deeper into the background of the world. This is my favorite of the series, though it's better to have played SSS first. This is also one of the more challenging games of the series, though not as difficult as the original SCD version. - Lunar: The Silver Star (SCD): The original and first Lunar game. This was ahead of its time in terms of the music (which is fantastic), voice acting (...perhaps only so-so by today's standards), and depth of the world. I also like the original more than the remake. The challenge level here isn't too high, though, especially if you're used to more recent RPGs. - Lunar: Eternal Blue (SCD): The original sequel. This and EBC (the remake) are very similar, and (unlike TSS/SSS) the remake added a lot and only removed a few things. This is also possibly the most challenging game of the series, and requires you to consider position, turn order, and a few other factors well beyond "which one's stronger" in battles (unless you toss up your hands and just level-grind). - Lunar: Legend (GBA): Very toned down version of The Silver Star / Silver Star Story. Not worth playing and the challenge level is a complete cakewalk. - Lunar: Dragon Song (DS): THIS GAME DOESN'T EXIST MOVE ALONG NOW - Lunar: Silver Star Harmony (PSP): Toned down version of Silver Star Story with a few added plot points. It's... all right, and gives you the same story, so it's worth it if you can't find Silver Star Story. It's much easier by comparison, though. I admit my own bias here, considering these games formed a core part of my life. So, I won't go into talking up the games (and don't feel bad if you find them a bit meh). KF

Neblix - This isn't what you're going to want to hear, but in the studio I only use my M50x's for one reason: To hear what my stuff sounds like for people who exclusively use them. I have found them to be too heavy on certain elements to produce a reliable mix because like Modus said, what sounds great on M50's may not translate well to other devices. However, they are one of my top headphones for recreational listening because the low impedance means a headphone amp isn't really necessary, and closed back design ensures you won't bother people in public places with a loud volume. My personal preference on headphones for mixing is the DT880's, but they're still not ideal for a final mix. If you have the money to spare, a nice pair of studio monitors with the proper placement and room treatment is really the way to go. I'm more than happy to give you some gear recommendations if you want to message me.

There was a pretty dang good remix of that on the FF1 album by blackguitar http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR02555 I'm stuck at work so I haven't got to download the album yet! But I can only imagine how awesome it is

Yeah, very tasteful, authentic jazz. Bravo sir!

Hey Darke, I have a crazy idea for future competitions like this that might be unfeasible but I wanted to drop it by you anyways. Obviously my entry this week was a joke, but I noticed with the way the voting is set up that there is an opportunity to make this a more rewarding experience for everyone involved. It'd be interesting to see something where people could rate a mix out of 5 based on different categories, like production, arrangement, source usage, mastering, etc. Maybe bring in one of the OC superstars that aren't participating in the competition like BGC, Zircon, Will Roget, yourself etc every now and then to give some external professional insight on the mixes on a round. Either just adding this to their top 3 picks of creating a simple form for people to check box out. It would allow people to see where their mix falls short and the areas people liked. Right now, and I had this happen with the Wily competition too, but it kinda feels like you submit your track into a blender and its not heard from again unless you happen to get voted for or participate in the listening party. Luckily people volunteer feedback in the thread, but you kinda have to hunt for it. Its why my team mates dropped after the first one and I think thats why people might struggle to be motivated to keep submitting with the long format nature of this competition. The consistent feedback could help everyone improve on each other and know what areas they should focus on. Under the current voting scheme its extremely unclear what qualities people liked in a track or why they prioritize certain tracks over others, because different people are listening for different things, but the system doesn't really give any insight into what those things are. Overall, introducing a more categorical system for voting I feel would be beneficial to OCR as an organization as well because it can help you guys refine your content creators to publish the highest quality of mixes. There are a lot of really talented folks in here that have areas, that, with proper focus could turn them into truly top tier composers/musicians. I'm no exception. If any of those guys go on to become great film\tv\game composers, you guys can take pride in knowing you helped foster that talent.

Hey guys, Hope making this post is kosher--I wanted to invite anyone who is going to be at MagClassic this year to come hear me perform! My on-again, off-again VGM band Discocactus was invited to play this year, and we'll be performing on Saturday, 9/12 at 7 PM. This is my first time performing at a video game convention, so I'm super excited! It's going to be a lot of fun. If you're going to be there, please join us at 7! Then, once we're done, run off to OCR's How to Remix panel!

Smooth as heck. Love your stuff man, always so lush and chill.

Hm, choices choices. I like the idea of a full OCRA album, but not so much opening it up to all ps1 games. That IMHO will lead to the typical games you see in OCR's top listings (FF, Chrono Cross, Megaman, you know the drill), which is cool but not for this album I think. What I found interesting about this album is that you limited it to the less remixed games, games with only 1-2 remixes. How about a compromise between the two? Make it an OCRA album, but don't target it to the 20th anniversary per se. Name it something like 'PS1 Lost Gems' or 'Forgotten Treasures' or something. That would keep the pressure off you to do the release properly (as the album deserves) while still sticking with the album concept. To OCRA or OCRI doesn't really matter to me, but with OCRA you maybe get a bit more exposure, which is always cool. $0.02.

There's this song Alchemy, that I like. But at 1:37 the vocal melody does something that sounds unique to me. I'd like to use it one day (I can always notate it by ear), but the thing is, I want to know what's going from a music theory standpoint. Like what is he doing to make it sound like that. Is it going through a slight key change, is he hitting an accidental, is the melody clashing with the key. Things like that. I just know I'm hearing something there, and I can't pick it out really. But I like it, sounds, unique to me.

For some reason i love the obviously fake cello patch in the Myst soundtrack. It's not the dirtiest of secrets but...eh.

My room was so full of shit, I couldn't even setup my guits anymore, so I decided to use massonite sheets and hang them with the tools.. should have done that earlier !!

New place, new studio pic! And the new DJ rig: