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OC ReMix & Impact Soundworks are pleased to officially announce the release of SUPER AUDIO CART, the definitive retro game instrument and a project eight years in the making! Instrument Page: Read More & Purchase Super Audio Cart features eight legendary video game systems recorded in exhaustive detail using a slew of specialized cartridges and hardware: Atari 2600 Commodore 64 Sega Master System Game Boy Sega Genesis (Mega Drive - Model 1, naturally) NES Famicom (w/ VRC6, VRC7, FDS) SNES (Super Famicom) These samples combine to form more than 630 multisampled sound sources: everything from pulse oscillators and noise generators, to essential FM patch layouts, true lo-fi PCM drums and hacked/circuit-bent setups. When you play a Commodore 64 PWM patch or an NES drum kit, you aren't hearing an emulation: these are the real sounds coming straight from each console. But Super Audio Cart goes far beyond authentic game sounds. We created an incredible KONTAKT PLAYER engine (with full NKS compatibility) pushing Kontakt to its limits to provide a huge range of sound design features and 1200 factory presets in total. This engine lets you transform simple pulses, saws, and 10kb samples into monumental pads, dirty EDM basses, hip hop leads and anything else you can think of. SAMPLE CONTENT Over 5,800 meticulously edited samples in total All-new bank of custom SNES samples (400+ instruments) 120+ classic FM instruments from the best Genesis soundtracks Hundreds of sound effects, both sound sources + presets Synthesized and DPCM sampled drumkits Tons of waveforms and circuit bent oscillators ENGINE FEATURES Up to 4 simultaneous and independent sound source layers Five total FX racks (one per layer and global) with a custom "SNESVERB" module Independent arpeggiator/sequencer & gate, including wave sequencer Full control over envelopes, mapping range, keytracking and tuning Customizable portamento (including poly portamento) Over a dozen filter models (LP, HP, BP, notch) MIDI learn / CC links to any parameter or control XY controller for layer blending or modulation (also MIDI learnable) And the crown jewel, a 64-slot custom mod matrix built from scratch. We'll be making a video just for this since it can do so much - create and assign custom LFOs to virtually any parameter, use MIDI CC, random numbers, velocity, key position, and aftertouch (to name a few), modulate FX and controls globally or per-layer... etc. And you can bet the factory library makes great use of it! AUDIO DEMOS https://soundcloud.com/isworks/sets/super-audio-cart-demos Super Audio Cart was produced as a collaboration between Impact Soundworks and the OverClocked ReMix video game music community, and is available now for the MSRP of $149 with FULL Kontakt Player and NKS compatibility! Get the library here! Let us know what you think! VIDEO TUTORIALS (Playlist) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_kB2z4rCmo QUOTES "Super Audio Cart is so much fun, and absolutely spot-on for simulating retro game sounds. This is absolutely a fantastic sample library for all game music fans." -Yasunori Mitsuda (Chrono Trigger, Chrono Cross, Xenogears) "It's extremely convenient to be able to create arrangements with such diverse sounds so quickly, just using MIDI. Of course, Super Audio Cart isn't just for 'retro' sounds - it's also very useful for modern music as well." -Yuzo Koshiro (Streets of Rage, ActRaiser, Revenge of Shinobi, Etrian Odyssey) "Super Audio Cart is without doubt the best plugin for all your chiptune needs, it's got the lot and they're all glorious!! Having all these authentic sounds in one place is the best idea since someone said, 'Let's put a rap in Donkey Kong' ... oh wait." -Grant Kirkhope (Donkey Kong 64, GoldenEye, Banjo-Kazooie, Civilization: Beyond Earth) "Super Audio Cart fills a niche in my chiptune arsenal that has been sorely lacking. The SNES-style patches sound so authentic, and the multi-chip patches bring usability and versatility I haven't seen in a chiptune instrument before." -Danny Baranowsky (Crypt of the NecroDancer, Binding of Isaac, Super Meat Boy)

Yes, and also... yes. We don't use direct game names, but for many of the Genesis sounds specifically, you can easily guess based on preset euphemisms/references. Recreating most types of SNES/Genesis sounds is entirely doable, and with the other systems, all the core waveforms are there. It's pretty darn flexible and has pretty wide coverage. So let me get this straight... any time the staff & founder of OCR want to put OCR's name on something, we need "clearance" from "hundreds" of people? Have you noticed that you're the only one expressing this perspective? That's why I asked others who might agree to chime in - it's so bizarre and out of left field that I'm genuinely curious if anyone else feels the same, or similarly. If as the founder/president of OverClocked ReMix, LLC I have to get "clearance" from "hundreds" of other people before doing something like this, I'd quit. So would you, if you were in my shoes. There ARE decisions that involve/require community feedback, namely when we do anything that affects the submissions process or content policy. We didn't get "clearance" from "hundreds" to run our FF6 kickstarter, or for that matter to release Random Encounter, which YOU directed. I'm not going to throw insults at *you* personally, but your *position* on this matter *appears* to be hypocritical & inconsistent... it's a VGM-related sample library, worked on by many OCR regulars/veterans, conceptualized by the founder of OCR & a former-judge and current ReMixer who's organized some amazing OCR albums. Again, the connectivity & relevance seem blatantly obvious to me, and appear intuitive enough to others. FWIW, I do appreciate the role of "watchdog" and I don't mind decisions like this being questioned, but you're going beyond questioning and just making bad faith assumptions that don't seem to be grounded in reason. There's a cutoff point where it stops being "useful questioning of authority that prompts warranted reflection" and starts being paranoid accusation, incomplete appreciation of reality, or repetition of unreasonable & inconsistent claim... If you cannot explain the above inconsistency more clearly, perhaps refrain from further contributing to the thread until your position is more fully-formed?

Almost every person who worked on Super Audio Cart has been a member of this community for over 10 years. OCR is not and was never about preserving the romanticism of slaving over art without any compensation. That's stupid (attributing it to OCR, that is). Something you apply for yourself; that's fine, there's nothing wrong with having that as an ideal, but keep it to yourself and don't say nonsense like this "disrespects the community". This was made by our community.

Cost: Yep, as mentioned in a YouTube comment reply it's going to be in the $100-150 range. I think it's going to be a pretty fantastic value for the money purely for the MODERN sounds alone. That's the big difference between this and other retro/chiptune type plugins; this has hundreds upon hundreds of presets made by layering the systems, adding effects, modulators, envelopes, and filters. A pad made from SNES strings mixed with Genesis sweeps and NES arpeggios? Sure! The factory library features contributions from OCR's own community: bLiNd, Timaeus222, Flexstyle, Sir_NutS, and Big Giant Circles, along with myself and djpretzel to name a few! Kontakt: ... Is not the most elegantly designed plugin in the world, but that's OK because we created our own interface and engine from scratch. So you're not really using Kontakt's UI, but our own thing that just uses Kontakt as the backend. All the graphics, wallpapers, knobs and other stuff are totally original. I'll be making a multi-part tutorial series on how to use Super Audio Cart, too. Starting with the basics of navigating the factory library, then moving on to basic sound layering and mixing, envelopes/filters and portamento, arpeggiator & sequencer, FX, and the mod matrix. SNES: For the SNES, for copyright reasons we couldn't sample the actual games themselves. Instead, we created our own custom bank of 400+ sounds to the same specification used by actual SNES games, right down to the same bit rate reduction (BRR) encoding. These samples could be dropped into a ROM file and loaded on a real SNES - and in fact we did that just to make sure they sounded correct! You'll find a huge range of sounds including strings, pianos, guitars, basses, ethnic instruments, FX, ensembles, and drums, with lots of variations for each. There's also an FX module with the classic "SNESVERB" sound that you can tweak and toggle at will. MegaDrive: Another tricky one, since FM synthesis has infinite possible patch combinations. However, most of them suck! So we ripped the TFI (FM synth patch) data from actual soundtracks and, using a Model 1 Genesis and GenMDM hardware, multisampled about 120 of the best patches from my favorite games. Classic instruments from titles like Streets of Rage, Phantasy Star, Shinobi, Toejam & Earl, etc. Oh yeah, and several hundred FX taken from sound tests too (non-PCM fx, so again, no copyright issue!) On the PCM end, we did use the Genesis' lo-fi DAC to record some custom drums + percussion for lovely Genesis-style 707, 808, 909, rock, metal, and hybrid kits, plus about a dozen others.

Whats wrong with OCR Releasing VGM style synths? Does it go against promoting VGM? No? Ok then. From my perspective, the "spirit" of the website is just promoting VGM. Remixes is one part of that, and the main focus but generally, the goal is a bit more broad than that. Also, who said people who worked on this aren't getting financial compensation? I didn't work on this so I don't know honestly, thats not mentioned here did someone tell you that? Even if they aren't, they entered into it willingly, its not like everyone was all held at gunpoint and were told "YOU *MUST* CONTRIBUTE TO THIS FOR FREE WHILE WE TAKE ALL YOUR HARD WORK AND TURN IT INTO MONNNNIES". If you personally don't like it, w/e, you weren't involved anyway so why does it matter. "Claiming to be the community" - Naaaaah. I don't buy that. There are loads of projects with OCRs name on that don't involve everyone. Half the projects on OCR probably have 15 people involved max and you're ok calling that the "community" so why is this any different? What about one man remix albums like AnSo's the Answer? halc's pilotwings album? I KNOW you've shown support for them before. What about the Original Soundtracks with one person involved? They've got the community stamp on them. I'd be more willing to accept your criticism of it not being the full community if it didn't come out of nowhere

Whew! Clinched it. Didn't have the time to make the production as tight as I'd like, but I think we put out a good track nonetheless.

The sound design possibilities of this library are way beyond what a standard "emulation" VSTi can accomplish, especially when you start combining systems, filters, effects, the mod matrix...super fun stuff! Plus, the 1000+ presets (a few of which I had the privilege of designing) means that this is an incredibly valuable resource straight out of the box. I can't recommend it highly enough, myself, now that I've used it.

Nope, not buying it at that price. But that's just me, I'm really not willing to pay anything like a reasonable price for music stuff, since for me it's just an occasional hobby that I'm not very good at anyway. But I'm looking forward to seeing what others come up with using it! I think the association makes sense. This is a product centered directly around OCR's core focus, competency, and mission. I wouldn't be thrilled about OCR endorsing a general purpose tool like a microphone, a multipurpose synth, or a DAW, but, like OverClocked Records, this is right in the zone IMO.

I'll mention this in the write-up. In fact, I'll probably quote myself. Hello, future me! S'good stuff; obviously plays it a LITTLE loose with sources, but I didn't have to work too hard, plus the breakdown helps. Also obviously a different style/sound for timaeus, which is by & large done quite well, with an emphasis on the agile & delicious fretless bass. If I had to nitpick, I'd say the only weakness might be the snare part, as it pertains to the overall drum part - would have liked more dynamics on the snare, more accent & grace notes, to really give it that shuffle & syncopation, beyond what's present. As it stands, snare sits at the same velocity for most of the track and doesn't vary much, and the drum part could have a little extra pizzazz/humanization/panache, and I think the way to achieve both those goals would have been weaker accented snare notes filling in some of the gaps with extra syncopation. That's my VERY specific criticism, but it's easily outweighed by all the other righteous & highly enjoyable stuff going on, so.... YES

6 more days! We are really excited to hear what you guys all think about the album! The physical discs are being produced and should arrive within the next day or so, and the digital ones are all being tagged. Hyyyyyyypeeee

I'm not sure about an album but this is a gorgeous cover/mix. Good job

As the ISW tech support guy, I had nothing to do with the development of SAC other than general cheerleading. That being said, I can't wait to answer YOUR emails when you can't figure out how to extract a RAR file! (Also this library is going to be awesome and I can't wait to start playing with it)

I just realized that I, too, haven't commented on this thread. I'm the vocalist / primary arranger of that ReMix and I never properly thanked you guys for the great feedback, the positive and the negative. The other band members and I read every comment and took the criticism seriously. I agree with most of the issues Brandon raised. Six years later, there's a whole lot of stuff we'd be doing differently, especially production-wise. Even though we were still learning the ropes (and still are!), we had a ton of fun arranging this song. Even though Deflektor was (to this day) our only ReMix as a band, I'll hope to have more stuff for you soon. So: Thanks guys, we/I really appreciate it.

This just in, zircon and djpretzel claim to be part of the OCR community, BUT DO THEY REALLY WHIP THE LLAMA'S ASS?

are there gonna be presets based directly on recognizable titles, and if not will it be relatively easy to recreate them with experimentation

Here's a little bit about how this instrument came to be. Way back in ~2007-2008, Dave had the idea to do a sample library based on arcade sounds. "Samplecade" was the original title. I expressed some interest in helping, since at the time I had just worked on my first sample library project w/ Impact Soundworks. He recorded some source material but we didn't get much further at that point. We talked about it from time to time. A few years ago, after spending some time composing for a game that called for an SNES-style score, I had the idea of creating some ORIGINAL sounds and then making these into a virtual instrument for ISW. We started doing some early tests in 2014. Dave & I began talking again and he shared with me his grander vision; what this instrument COULD be... a definitive collection of not just SNES sounds, but other essential 8 & 16-bit systems as well. I thought it was a great idea and set to work slowly but surely assembling elements of the library. PROTODOME recorded the C64, NES & Gameboy sounds and designed some early artwork. Seeing some gaps, Shaggy (theshaggygreak) contributed more C64 material. Neblix has been the lead engineer on the project doing a monumental amount of engine programming. By my count that is 10 people from this community that have contributed to Super Audio Cart in some form... Not counting people who have, and will, write demo songs too. Of course, the entire community of OCR did not contribute - but we don't have hundreds of ReMixers on any ONE album project either. They're still OCR albums, made by the community. And it really bears repeating that, as djp said, a portion of the sales will be going directly to support OCR. Just like the proceeds from Patreon, site funds support things like printing physical copies of albums, putting on awesome panels at conventions, hosting/bandwidth, working with freelance developers for various projects related to the site, etc. In the literal and direct sense, the entire community benefits from this!

Pricewise, there really aren't any products that have this much sample content AND a really powerful synth engine to boot. As far as pure synths go: Sylenth1 is about $155. Zebra 2 is $199, and Diva is $179. Serum is $189. Massive is $199, FM8 is $199. Strobe 2 is $179. Just to name a few... and believe me this is a lot closer to a synth like those, than to a bunch of WAVs in a folder or a basic soundfont. The 5x FX racks, the independently programmable arps, mod matrix (can't say enough about that) definitely make it competitive with those in terms of features. Chipsounds is an obvious comparison at $95, granted. And to their credit, it's a great product. But it's also not sample-based, so it doesn't match the true output of any of the included systems. It doesn't have any SNES content at all, nor does it emulate the Genesis (as far as I'm aware). Nor does its engine have a flexible modulation matrix, or 8 FX (it has only 3 FX total). Another thing is that Chipsounds' preset library is very small. It's a synthesizer for people who really want to get into the nitty-gritty of each chip. A huge advantage of Super Audio Cart is that there are 1,000 snapshots ready to go. These range from pure, authentic mono waveforms and fully constructed drumkits, to crazy tricked-out layers that are fully performable. Chipsounds just does not have all that. In fact as far as I'm aware, nobody has ever released a true, original (not ripped) SNES sample set... and definitely not one this comprehensive. You COULD put together an array of different plugins and sample sets that might approximate the amount of content in this library. Maybe it would be cheaper; I doubt it, I'm not sure. BUT it wouldn't have a single, cohesive interface built for both easy tweaking & deep sound design, and it wouldn't have a universal collection of this many high-quality presets. That I DO know for sure.

Stop being a dummy.

But OC ReMIx never stood for "Don't endorse super-cool commercial projects that are completely relevant to the site mission of promoting VGM"... that was never a restriction, at any level. We are, first and foremost, a community of fans creatively expressing our appreciation for some amazing music. But the site's mission & principles have always included promoting VGM, and that includes commercial offerings if they are relevant. This is relevant. A portion of each sale will go towards supporting OCR, by the way. If anyone else agrees with Brandon's concerns, please chime in; to me, it seems like most people get the connectivity & understand why this is something we have been part of & will be a part of. Some amazing music will be made with this library, guaranteed! Some of that music will end up on the site, some of it will end up in games... sure feels like a win-win, to me. Heck, when you see who's putting together some of the demos for SAC... if you still feel raw about it, I'll be waiting.

Pretty much. Counterpoint creates a perception of thickness and movement, which is crucial to a big emotional sound. Sometimes I'll write some 4 or 5 part strings in a single Albion string ensemble patch and then port each individual line over to one string section in CS2. The end result is a workflow where I can play string chords and stuff on my keyboard to figure out what I like and tweak all the voice leading in one piano roll and then separate everything at the end to get the legato scripting and dynamic x-fades in there and the obligatory "realistic" ensemble setup. I hate just starting with legato patches because it's monophonic, really hard to draft harmonies without editing 4 or 5 MIDI channels every time I want to see a different chord or voicing or something. I know CS2 has a Full Ens patch; Albion has a better sound to me, so it's easier to be lazy by keeping it in Albion and not putting in the work to transfer it to CS2. xP It's not ridiculous, I've spent much more than that on music stuff. It's about cost-benefit. Granted, now I've kind of saturated my line-up, so I'm buying fewer and fewer things these days.

Funny story, I've never actually played FFIX, but I downloaded a lot of the music a long time ago, so I've heard many of the songs over and over. So I could pick out a lot of familiar tunes here. Suffice to say, I really enjoyed this. It might not be live orchestra, but it's dang close. Great job.

If you are into rock and metal, you spent a considerable amount of time listening to Nick's fantastic drumming - especially on classic Megadeth albums like Rust In Peace. RIP Nick http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/former-megadeth-drummer-nick-menza-dies-at-51/

**MINI UPDATE** It's with great pleasure I welcome @Chimpazilla to the team as a member of the Audio Support staff! Happy to have you join us Chimpazilla, I'm sure you'll be happy here, and we're delighted to have you lending your skills. NOTE TO REMIXERS: Any tracks submitted for appraisal/examination/mixing etc by Chimpazilla should go through me, and not directly to her, as she has kindly and understandably noted her already floating workload and doesn't want to be bombarded with PM's. Thanks peeps!

Oh boy. Anyways, the points are as follows: 1) Ensemble libraries are useful to have around, and worth investing in, for speed purposes. Anecdotes from exceptionally skilled/trained composers who've done this a long time don't apply to everyone's skillset. Not everyone is classically trained, or even knows how to write counterpoint or has studied orchestration. Plenty of professionals aren't either. When I say professional I don't mean "high profile grandmaster orchestrator", I mean people who make money off of writing music. There's a lot of them. Like, a lot. A great many of them are not Austin Wintory, or Williams, or Newman, or Uematsu. It's silly to base a career workflow on what extremely talented and trained/practiced people do unless you also have the skills they do. Not everyone writes music on sheets, for example. The point about what you see on sheets is irrelevant; sheets are written for PERFORMERS. Of COURSE they have individual sections laid out, otherwise it can't be performed. That's not what this is about. I tend not to assume everyone is already well-versed in orchestration and counterpoint techniques, especially not in a video game remixing hobbyist community. I structure my replies in threads to address everyone, not just OP. 2) Like Neifion said, the best results of using ensemble patches are with mixing in sections. 3) What's more "organic" from a physics standpoint really doesn't matter even though I disagree with Neifion, because like he said, performance and composition kind of trump this. Nothing with x-fades ever sound good anyway. Legato scripting is a ruse itself and won't stop being one until we move into more signal-based VI models. You can nitpick on what makes something less organic until you realize that pretty much all the current modern options sound pretty good regardless of their relative standing, and we're probably starting to reach a saturation point with orchestral sample library quality. Need to advance the platform/engines before we can move forward; so long as we're stuck on crossfades as the crux of all of our tone and dynamics morphing, we can't really get much better. Maybe more playable/intuitive to use, though. This is not actually a good assumption, because like I said, it doesn't work for everyone. My first orchestral set was CineBrass, CineWinds, and CS2. I tried the section writing thing. I was clearly interested in sectional writing. Didn't work for me. I'm not classically trained, and don't pretend to be to my own detriment. I stopped caring about the potential of the technique I was trying to do and just started doing what works for me musically for speed/creative output. Yes, I am missing out on intricate detail and artistry, but I don't really care, because it takes me too much time and patience, and I can't sustain that workflow, and then I stop altogether. That's worse than writing music that's not as ideal as it could be. I thought it would be worth sharing that with someone before they blow $1000 on something when $500 on something else could be more beneficial for them if they didn't know what the options are. That's not a tangent, that's giving context. Yeah, I'm not a freaking multi-million dollar composer, but I've been doing this a long time and I work in sample libraries. I'd think my opinion is at least worth considering, if even just one person ends up also finding out that mixed section + ensemble libs helps them work better. Maybe I'm overextending much. tl;dr I calls it as I sees it.

Ten more days. The countdown begins yo!

Topic has been locked and links removed; @SnappleMan wrote the rationale/reasoning perfectly, so I don't have to. The seriousness of the content in question and the acts that it depicts trump decorum and tact, in my mind, but I actually think many responses were quite calm & reasonable, including the one I quoted above. I appreciate your appeal to principle, art, and policy. On the third point, I disagree with you that our standing policy surrounding pornography does not apply. On principle & art... I'm a passionate defender of free speech and I'm opposed to censorship, but my choosing for OCR to be a place devoid of content that in any way exploits sexual abuse & rape is a form of speech too. This is me speaking: I'm not okay with this site and this community providing a resource that aids in the creation of content of this nature.

I'm having lots of fun with it. I think the ability to have as many of one character as you want is great; trying out crazy combinations without restriction is one of the greatest things about the game. One time on Gibraltar we had four Winstons, a Reaper, and a Lucio and we totally owned. Another time, on Hanamura, my time was defending against a team with five Tracers and a Hanzo, with them apparently thinking that they could zip past us to the points and win quickly. They got completely torn apart against our two Torbjorns set up with turrets. It makes for some really addicting and unpredictable play! Balancing-wise I think they could tone down Bastion's damage a tad. Yes, he's somewhat squishy and there are counters to him, such as Tracer's pulse bomb, but he's still just a bit OP, IMHO.

OC ReMix presents Final Fantasy V: The Fabled Warriors ~II. WATER~!! April 25, 2016 Contact: press@ocremix.org FAIRFAX, VA... OverClocked ReMix today released its 57th community arrangement album, Final Fantasy V: The Fabled Warriors ~II. WATER~. The album consists of nine arrangements of composer Nobuo Uematsu's original score to the 1992 Super Nintendo game, Final Fantasy V, developed and published by Square. It is available for free download at http://ff5.ocremix.org, and is the second of a planned series of five albums honoring the game's soundtrack. The long-awaited second volume of The Fabled Warriors, WATER finally arrives after OC ReMix's initial 2010 entry, WIND. WATER features eight artists employing mariachi, chiptune, rock, experimental, EDM, Middle Eastern, acoustic guitar, and Celtic elements into their musical tributes. The Fabled Warriors was made by fans, for fans, and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Square Enix; all original compositions are copyright their respective owners. "It's filled with awesome music from a really talented bunch of guys. I'm grateful that they've been so patient with me, and I'm happy that you're all going to finally hear their awesome arrangements," said Shariq "DarkeSword" Ansari, director and creator of the album series. The first four albums will follow the four crystals in the game, with themes arranged for all of the corresponding jobs, and the last album will cover new jobs introduced in the 2006 Game Boy Advance release, as well as serve as an endcap to the project. The artwork of The Fabled Warriors: Volume II, featuring Lenna as a representation of water, was designed by Maya "rnn" Petersen, who also created the art of For Everlasting Peace: 25 Years of Mega Man, OC ReMix's commercial album in partnership with Capcom. rnn also fashioned the artwork for OCR's Mario map theme EDM album Super Cartography Bros., and has been featured in UDON's series of video game tribute art books, including Mega Man Tribute. "Now that WATER is finally out, we're going to move on to putting together Volume III: FIRE. I've got big plans, and while it would be irresponsible of me to promise a release date, I will say that after everything I've learned about running all these albums over the years, things are going to move along at a better pace," Ansari affirmed. "Keep an eye out, and in the meantime, enjoy The Fabled Warriors: Volume II: WATER." About OverClocked ReMix Founded in 1999, OverClocked ReMix is an organization dedicated to the appreciation and promotion of video game music as an art form. Its primary focus is ocremix.org, a website featuring thousands of free fan arrangements, information on game music and composers, resources for aspiring artists, and a thriving community of video game music fans. ### Download it: http://ff5.ocremix.org Torrent: http://bt.ocremix.org/torrents/Final_Fantasy_V_-_The_Fabled_Warriors_~II.WATER~.torrent Comments/Reviews: http://ocremix.org/community/topic/43318-/ Preview it: