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OC do not steal!!! Too busy RPing to dig into the real conspiracy of the MJ music in sonic 3! Typical Sonic casual fan.

Castlevania: Cacophony of Incarnation (CCoI) A Remix Competition Presented by the OverClocked ReMix Forums Introduction The Cult of Dracula strikes again! With their arcane power, they've reached backwards and forwards through time, even into alternate realities, to piece the Castle of Chaos and its surroundings back together, and with it, their fallen master. But the castle has come back jumbled together! Lakes float above towers, forests grow deep underground, and libraries burn perpetually in caverns of fire. Of course, with the pieces of the castle have come the heroes of ages! These heroes must fight through the Transylvanian chaos, sending each area in turn back to the abyss, until only one remains, trapping Dracula's essence and allowing him to be defeated once more. Download Current News Voting for the Final Battle has concluded! While Simon Belmont, represented by OA, has succeeded in his quest, Dracula, represented by Jorito, has had the last laugh. He'll return soon, more powerful than ever! Congratulations to both Jorito and OA! Brackets Alucard Bracket Concluded! Soma Bracket Concluded! Simon Bracket OA: Entrance, 1797 Dracula Bracket Jorito: Crumbling Tower, 1691 The Fallen PlanarianHugger: Plant Castle, 1591 Yami: Underground Caverns, 1797 theshaggyfreak: Munitions Factory, 1917 Esperado: Forbidden Area, 2035 Chernabogue: Underground Caverns, 1691 Chalis: Dance Hall, 2035 Trism: Wilderness, 1698 YoshiBlade: Castle Center, 1852 HoboKa: Burning Town, 1792 Supercoolmike: Inner Halls, 1476 Sir_NutS: Entrance, 1691 Aleix Ramon: Master's Keep, 1944 Magnetic Ether: Inner Quarters, 2035 War Machine: Dungeon, 1691 Gario: Warakiya Village, 1476 wildfire: Abandoned Castle, 1479 Format Castlevania: Cacophony of Incarnation (CCoI) is mostly a traditional elimination tournament. Each participant will choose the music from one location, stage, or area from any Castlevania game. They will then be paired off against each other, with the winner continuing to the next round. Remixers will have two weeks to write a "vs. remix;" that is to say, a remix featuring the themes of their own area and their opponent's area, and there will be a one-week voting period following each round. Two elements make this compo different from traditional brackets. First, instead of requiring a specific number of participants, any number will be accepted. One or more special rounds will be added to even out the number of participants. These special rounds will require remixes to use both their stage music and a special theme for the round. There also may be three main brackets instead of the usual two if that makes things work out more evenly. Second, there will be an optional loser's bracket. This will be point-based, and based on the number of participants who opt in for each round: the more entries, the more points will be up for grabs in each round. Those who lose in the main bracket will enter the loser's bracket slightly above the median score of all existing participants, to put them on even footing (with a reward for lasting longer in the main bracket). The winner of the loser's bracket will compete with the winner of the winner's bracket at the end: The winner of the winner's bracket can claim ultimate victory whether they win or lose, but they need to share that victory with the winner of the loser's bracket if they lose to them. All participating competitors and voters will adhere to the Competitions Code of Conduct. So do I just pick a theme? Is it first-come-first-served? I'll be doing a draft for source selection. If you're planning on participating, please post a list of at least three sources you're interested in claiming, in your order of preference. If you're choosing themes you expect to be popular, you should post 4 or 5 choices so you have backup. Since Castlevania doesn't always use consistent names for locations, and the names of the themes themselves aren't always easy to find, please include a YouTube link to each source. Also, if you have any schedule restrictions (planned vacations, exams, etc), please mention them in your signup post. I'll do my best to accommodate. Eligible sources are those which are the music for a stage, area, or location from any game with "Castlevania" in the title. Boss music, character themes, etc. are not eligible. If a source is used for two or three locations in the same game, that's fine, just specify one. If it's used in different games, try to list the game it originally came from (e.g. Castlevania for Vampire Killer). Different participants will not be allowed to choose different versions of the same melody. Castlevania II: Simon's Quest is a special case: Silence of Daylight, Bloody Tears, Monster Dance, Dwelling of Doom, and Within These Castle Walls are the eligible sources. Once everyone posts their lists, I'll assign choices based on a weighted point system designed to give the highest possible choices to the greatest number of people. (Some mathematical oddities in the sequential conflict resolution system actually make lower-ranked choices more likely in some cases, so I won't be using that.) Submissions All entries must be sent to me (MindWanderer) via PM on the forums. Please include the name of your bracket and the round number in the subject line of your PM. Please send me your submissions in MP3 format. I'll trust the submitters' ears to choose the best encodings for their music. Please do not use MediaFire, RapidShare, or any other ad-ridden public sharing site as a host for your entry. Tindeck is also bad because it changes your filenames. There are many better options you can and should be using to host your music. I recommend Dropbox or SoundCloud. Make sure your files are downloadable. File names must be in the following format: 1-on-1 round: Remixer - Title (Remixer's Stage and Opponent's Stage).mp3 3-way round: Remixer - Title (Remixer's Stage; First Opponent's Stage; and Second Opponent's Stage).mp3 Dracula Bracket round: Remixer - Title (Remixer's Stage and Round Theme).mp3 Examples: DarkeSword - Blood in the Water (Sunken City of Poltergeists, 1476 and Wilderness, 1698).mp3 MindWanderer - Wallachia Just Keeps On Burning (Warakiya Village, 1476; Burning Town, 1792; and Master's Keep, 1944).mp3 djpretzel - Praying for Time (Clock Tower, 1691 and Prayer, 1476).mp3 Please pay attention to the spaces and punctuation. Your artist name and mix title can be whatever capitalization you want but the stage names must be full and capitalized properly (as listed in the brackets). Properly formatted file names make it much easier for me to tag everything properly, which ensures good, consistent metadata on all the files that will be distributed to voters. You must adhere to this file name standard. If you don't, I will seriously consider disqualifying you, and I don't think anyone wants to be disqualified just because they couldn't name their file properly. Voting Rules and Guidelines Voting is conducted publicly in the Public Voting forum. Every week, a thread will be created for the most recently completed round of remixing. Specific rules will vary from round to round, so be sure to check the main post of each thread for instructions. Things to keep in mind when voting: The most important thing to consider when voting is how well the remix incorporates and arranges both themes. Production and enjoyability should also be considered, but this is primarily an arrangement competition. If you can't hear both themes in the remix, don't vote for it. Everyone is allowed (and encouraged) to vote, including both competitors and non-competitors. Due to the forum's poll mechanic, you are required to choose a remix to vote for in each pairing in the main brackets. If you participated in the round, feel free to vote for yourself. In the Dracula bracket, you will need to choose a first, second, and third-place choice. Do not vote for yourself. Voters will earn points equal to a first-place vote just for voting. Do not post reviews in the voting thread. Compile your reviews for each round into a single post in this thread. Post only once in each voting thread. Everyone must adhere to the Competitions Code of Conduct. Violations may result in your votes or entries being disqualified. Schedule Signups close: January 7 Remixing begins: Alucard Bracket Round 1: January 13 Soma Bracket Round 1: January 20 Simon Bracket Round 1: January 27 Alucard Bracket Round 2: February 3 Soma Bracket Round 2: February 10 Simon Bracket Round 3: February 17 Dracula (losers') Bracket Round 1: February 17 Hero Finals: March 9 Dracula Bracket Round 2: March 9 Final Battle: March 30 (3-week mixing period) Epilogue: March 30 (3-week mixing period) Conclusion Castlevania was originally released on September 26, 1986, making this coming year its 30th anniversary. I'd like to release a compliation OCR-I on that date if at all possible. So if you make something you like, or that you could like with some extra time to polish it, hang onto it, and I'll ask for submissions following the end of the compo. Art Art supplied by Chernabogue! Get your signature banners here. Aren't you stealing DarkeSword's format just so we can make more Castlevania music for you to listen to? Yep, pretty much.

Hi, OC ReMix! This year, Lara Croft celebrates her 20th Birthday and, since the franchise only has one remix on OCR (the great 'Adventure Is in the Air' by EmptyMy), I thought it could be nice to offer the lady a second one just for the occasion. I actually started a piano arrangement of Peter Connelly's 'Theme' (from 'Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation') and was wondering if you guys could give me feedbacks so I can try to make it OCR worthy (if it is possible to ^^'). Bare in mind that the song was not humanized yet -- I'd like to have the whole composition right before I eventually start recording a real-life piano play. Original Version: Remix: I wouldn't mind collaborate with any of you if you think this WIP could actually fit another genre better -- like a rock ballad or somehting -- and would like to help with the transposition Thanks in advance and Happy New Year to you all!

Here's something I just started working on recently. I know the direction I want for this remix but I wouldn't know how to tag the style properly. Anyways I hope you guys can tell me what you think of what I have so far.

I was meaning to post this here earlier but didn't get round to it. Anyway, here's my arrangement of the snowy Route 216 from Pokemon Diamond and Pearl. I hope you enjoy and any critique is always incredibly helpful

I need some good feedback on a mix I created not so long ago. I can't submit it as a overclocked remix cause of copyright infringement risk but you can follow the link to my Soundcloud and listen. I think it's pretty well done, but i need good constructive criticism. What do you think?

Yeah, if it produces sound, I don't really care how you make it. Live sounds are great; similar compos even sometimes have vocal entries. The only exception would be sampled audio that you don't have the legal right to use; samples from Squaresoft/Square Enix games are explicitly prohibited for that reason, but people sample the heck out of Castlevania and don't get in trouble, so that should be fine.

Castlevania: Cacophony of Incarnation 2016 Voting for the Alucard Bracket, Round 1 is open until Wednesday, February 3 at 12:00 PM PST. See the competitions calendar for your timezone. I'm going to try out the new forums' poll feature. Please keep an eye on the compo thread for updates, in case I need to nuke the poll and use a more traditional voting method. If you are not a participant in this round and do not vote in all three matchups, your other vote(s) will be discounted. If you are a participant in this round, do not vote in your own matchup, either for yourself or your opponent; just vote in the other two matchups. Download the remixes! Sources: Underground Caverns, 1797 (Crystal Teardrops) Burning Town, 1792 (Divine Bloodlines) Warakiya Village, 1476 (Beginning) Plant Castle, 1591 (Ripe Seeds) Munitions Factory, 1917 (Iron-Blue Intention) Master's Keep, 1944 (Gaze up at the Darkness)

Wow! This is fantastic! I am loving the way you rearranged this. Excellent stuff!!

Well, I would try to first stop thinking of us as "pros" and start thinking us as a community of people who live and grow together musically. OCR isn't just a showcase, the community forums are here specifically for this reason. Other than that, I can't offer too much other than platitudes about failure being the only form of success. It all boils down to: chill out. Try things. Ditch what doesn't work and keep what does. Love music.

Try out this link, it should allow you to add yourself to the group. https://groupme.com/join_group/3317072/y8RJP0

Still one of my favorites on the site. From the mellow wavy intro, to the vintage sounding drums accompanying the funky rhodes...the song is constantly evolving. Like Crulex said, nothing is too repetitive and it's a smooth ride from start to finish. Only wish Quinn would submit more nowadays.

Arrangement sounds great! Has some cool chords and solos as usual! ------ The stereo field feels off to me though. Some things feel wider than I think they could be, seeming to be for the purpose of getting the lead and bass to come through. It can work, but in general, a lot of wide sounds could be as similarly problematic as a lot of narrow sounds. The drums could be a bit stronger because right now some parts of the kit seem unintentionally hard to hear (the toms are a bit noticeable but not very, for instance, but the rides, cymbals, and hi hats sound fine), though I get that it's not supposed to be powerhouse-compressed. I can barely hear the snare (I started hearing it at 1:55 and on, but it seems far back), even though I can kind of tell it's there. Definitely bring that up more, get it more upfront, and try to get more "air" on the tone if possible. Where's the kick drum though? It felt strange for the chord-playing acoustic piano to be so far to the left at first; and then the shift to mostly right-panned at 0:52 made me feel like the entire piano 'performance' should be narrower in the stereo field. At 1:53, the piano chord makes me think there could be less reverb on it, but I'm not 100% sure how much there is. If there's too much, you could lower it a bit, and then that should bring it a bit more upfront, allowing you to slightly scoop the mids to accommodate for being more upfront and still let the lead come through. I can sometimes hear some sounds kind of fighting each other when the arrangement gets especially busy at around the 2:00 mark. I like it, don't get me wrong, but specifically, perhaps the chordal piano can have slightly lower velocities there to keep the listener's attention on the lead. 2:09 is where I hear the bass most clearly, and I think I hear a few weird clashes. Not harmonically, but in terms of its polyphony smearing the intonation (like at 2:11 and 2:13). For instance, I know what you wanted for the chord at 2:13, but you might want to move more of the lower notes to higher registers to reduce low-frequency smearing. This is not a big deal though; just wanted to mention it. Also, I'm not entirely sure, but does the bass have some reverb? If so, it could be lowered just a bit to reduce low-end mud. At 2:27 - 2:39, I don't really have a criticism, but it's more like a suggestion; I think you have a great opportunity here to put some Jazz Fusion-esque drum fills that keep the excitement going instead of stopping the flow like it's doing now for me, but it's up to you. And this is more of a nitpick, but right near the end, I wish there was a more obvious drum fill to signal the last note. Right now I just hear straight eighth (or quarter?) note hits. Maybe end on an off-beat hit as well? ----- The arrangement is pretty well off already, so no big worries about that. My main concern is on the mixing, where the piano seems overly wide and perhaps a bit washy in the low-mids, the bass oddly seems a tad reverberant (slightly), and the drums can come through more clearly (is there supposed to be a kick anywhere? Can't hear it. Also hard to hear the snare).

Using GroupMe as usual with a few chatrooms sounds like the plan to go with to me.

The new chord at 0:12 sound much better. I still think the drums at 0:15 could be mixed louder, and possibly be more bassy? At 0:24, when when tuba comes in to start playing the main motif, I think some new instruments should play over the strings for variation's sake. 0:32 - 1:20 sounds extremely messy. The trumpet seems to be playing everything early? And the strings at 0:56. Or maybe everything else is being delayed with an overuse of reverb? I can't hear anything underneath the melody. And the drum kit that comes in is mixed very quietly, and could use some compression to make it punchier. At 1:02 and 1:18, you've taken a part that was originally a pitch-shift, and transcribed it into half-steps. I assume you're doing this because everyone who made a midi of this song wrote it for piano? The half-steps don't sound anywhere near as good as the pitch-shift did in the original. I suggest you have the instruments that could realistically slide pitch do so, or cut out the half-step and just have a whole step there. The half-step compromise doesn't sound as good. On it's own, the chiptune-melody at 1:48 sounds pretty good, but I'm worried the orchestra under it has the same problems that it does at 0:32, and I can't hear it because of how loud the melody is mixed. The new ending is better than a fade out, but it still feels anticlimactic.

Wow, I'd say both the arrangement and the mix are fantastic! Has a really great energy and vibe and the musicianship is flawless. Love the room sound of the mix as well. If I was absolutely pressed to give one piece of constructive criticism, it's that the piano is a little wide across the stereo spectrum for me in a mix like this as opposed to a solo piano piece. But I'm not all that familiar with jazz and that may very well be a common mic'ing and mixing technique in the genre. At any rate, you should be really proud of this and it's nice to hear something so polished from a game that doesn't get much treatment. Thanks for sharing!

Yay! Mixing is on hold for me until a new set of guitar strings arrive since I didn't think to check that I had any ahead of time and none of the stores in my area sell ones that are heavy enough XD.

GroupMe FTW. So in order to join a group, I believe you have to either have a direct link to it or be invited. Not sure if you can just straight up search for groups. Fun fact: Groupme was originally built at a hackathon using the company I work for's API good shit.

sounds like a great idea. i've never used groupme before but i'm sure it's simple to use. it appears to be an organized and direct way to get information out quickly and accurately amidst the MAG chaos ok i don't know how to use it lol i installed it and search for it but it doesn't show up. does it only show up when it's being used? so like not for another month?

Hey everyone. Figured I'd get this discussion rolling now. So during Magfest I know that everyone likes to coordinate when we go out and get food, when we're gonna hit concerts, and other general hanging out. In the past we've used GroupMe, a mobile messaging app, to coordinate. Other options are Hangouts and Facebook Messenger. I personally would ask that nobody include me in group MMS and SMS texting (it costs me money on my phone if you're not an iPhone user). The "OverClocked ReMix" group still exists on GroupMe, but I'd like to propose we make a couple of chatrooms for coordinating. One for food meetups ("anyone getting lunch? where are you guys going? what time?"), one for concerts and panels, and one for general hangout/magchat stuff. What do you guys think? I've renamed the OCR group to OC ReMix @ MAGFest 2016

Got my AC adapter today! I finally can use my laptop again, yay ^^

"AND IN TODAYS NEWS - Michael Jackson is still confirmed as a composer for Sonic 3."

Thanks for the crtique I did changes according to them (and other changes as well): I didn't change the tone of the synth at 1:47 though cause I like how it sounds.