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I heartily recommend checking out the My So Called 8-Bit Life podcast episode. Great talk, I personally took great pleasure from hearing about trackers and BBSs, the really oldschool stuff since that was definitely a big part of my nerdy youth too. But also great bits about composer response to American Album, plus I really appreciated hearing about difficulties when writing the American Pixels (time/motivation etc).

Alright guys, sorry for the lack of updates. Bahamut just got a LOT busier with real life, so I will be taking the lead and he will take on a more assisting role. That means: let's get this show on the road! I'll be asking the mods if I can take over the first post, otherwise I'll be making a new thread. In the meanwhile: we have new project forums and we have WIP deadlines! I think the OCR sub-forums aren't really convenient, so everyone involved in the project should register here: http://SoMOCR.proboards.com The forum is also where we will be posting WIPs for feedback. We wil be having a deadline every two months, with a final cut-off date in one year. That means this will NOT be an album where the entire soundtrack is mixed, but rather an album that will be released within two years. If you miss your second deadline, your claim is gone and anyone can take the tracks. Starting from May 1st we will only accept substantial WIPs (where the arrangement is at least 80% done). So the deadlines are: November 1st January 1st March 1st May 1st - ONLY SUBSTANTIAL WIPS ACCEPTED July 1st September 1st - FINAL CUT-OFF DATE Good luck guys!

I remain. I'll have a WIP by 12 Sep.

I'm probably too late to reply to this but it might help someone else. Use the largest ssd that you can afford as your main drive and also install your music programs and libraries on that drive. 500 gig would be best. Then have another regular drive and install games, steam etc to that drive. If using orchestral libraries then 16 gig of ram should help everything run smoothly.

Oh cool - Thanks very much for the feedback as well, HoboKa!

Hey I have to say I like your artstyle very much! You just got a subscriber

A squidflood. Super Monkeyball flood!!! Seriously, has anyone even done a remix of SMB? Edit: NOPE!!! WHAT!! HOW!! SUCH HAPPY MUSIC!!

It happens in your 30s. You just keep looking around local and online as best you can and fill it up where you can. Get outside the box and try things you probably wouldn't have tried before. Pretty hard to be more specific as to what things those are from there, but with the will to move can inevitably reveal the path to get there.

Now this is an interesting idea for an album. An album based on energy levels, as stated in the directors notes, with the energy levels progressing from something with energy to the arrangements to serene lullaby arrangements that will put anyone in a relaxed state of mind. It’s not often we get arrangement albums that want to create soothing moods, so I really enjoyed evaluating this album for review. And as always, here are my takes on each individual track. And sorry if each track review seems short or abrupt in places. I was moving when I first listened to this, and I didn’t want to sit on this review forever. 1-01. "When Toys Come Alive" (The Secret of Monkey Island) Arranger: fredrikd Composers: Andy Newell, Barney Jones, Michael Land, Patric Mundy Source: "Guybrush and Elaine" It almost sounds like something out of a Danny Elfman soundtrack. Parts of the track sounded a little too hot to me though. Still, pretty whimsical. 1-02. "Mon Ami!" (.hack//Infection - Part 1) Arranger: BONKERS Composer: Seizo Nakata Source: "puti_farm (Grunty Farm)" I feel like when I hear this track, we’re building up to something extraordinary. It sounds like a great overture to something much bigger. Maybe this should have been the first track? 1-03. "The Slumber of the Beast" (Super Mario 64) Arranger: DaMonz Composer: Koji Kondo Source: "Piranha Plant's Lullaby" I love the Piranha Plant lullaby. Then again, I love the Super Mario 64 soundtrack. This arrangement sounds like it could be used as a world map music track for a Mario game. 1-04. "Baby Blue Sky" (Yoshi Touch & Go) Arranger/Performer: Chimpazilla Arranger: halc Composers: Asuka Hayazaki, Toru Minegishi Source: "Sky Area" Reminds me of something you’d hear out of Hiroki Kikuta’s library. Love the bass. 1-05. "Baby Dreams of Lost Civilizations" (Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door) Arranger: Hylian Lemon Composers: Yoshito Hirano, Yuka Tsujiyoko Source: "Story of the Thousand-Year Door" Once again Hylian Lemon proves to be an expert at bringing chiptune, and “modern era” music together brilliantly. 1-06. "Psalm of the Summer Sky" (Secret of Mana) Arranger: Meteo Xavier Composer: Hiroki Kikuta Source: "Color of the Summer Sky" At first, I felt like this was an odd choice of music style for a soothing music album. But then I have to remind myself that this is the “playtime” album. So I shouldn’t expect the mood to be completely soothing in this part of the album. Even so, wonderful arrangement. 1-07. "Luxendarc Lullaby" (Bravely Default) Arranger: HeavenWraith Composer: Yasuo Kamanaka Sources: "Wicked Flight," "Serpent Devouring the Horizon," "Ballad Moving Towards Hope" A very beautiful take on Revo music. 1-08. "Dream Fast, Little Pilot" (Gradius, Nemesis 2 & Vulcan Venture) Arranger: rebrained Composers: Gradius - Miki Higashino, Nemesis 2 - Motoaki Furukawa, Masahiro Ikariko, Vulcan Venture - Yoshiyuki Hagiwara Sources: Gradius - "Coin (Coin Sound)," "Challenger 1985 (Stage 1 BGM)," Nemesis 2 - "Frontier Disputes (Life Planet Theme)," Gradius - "Free Flyer (Stage 4 BGM)," Vulcan Venture - "Burning Heat (Stage 1 BGM)" I feel like I’m in a ship, sailing….somewhere. An aimless journey almost. The melody is interesting. However, it’s kind of difficult for me to feel anything from this track other than “going somewhere.” 1-09. "Soothing Rain" (Animal Crossing) Arranger: Amphibious Composers: Kenta Nagata, Shinobu Tanaka Source: "Rainy Day" Very respectful to the Animal Crossing source material. 1-10. "Soporific Sonata" (Super Mario Bros. 2 & Super Mario Bros. 3) Arranger: DarkSim Composer: Koji Kondo Sources: Super Mario Bros. 2 - "Ending," Super Mario Bros. 3 - "Ending" Another fairly upbeat track more fitting for a “playtime” mood than a soothing mood. But what doesn’t make this a completely playful track is how it feels like you’re in that playful mood right before the end of the day. 1-11. "Another Sky" (Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure) Arranger: Rexy Composer: Hans Zimmer Source: "Skylanders Main Theme (Instrumental)" And here is the “wind down” portion of playtime. I love that this is an arrangement of Hans Zimmer, cause it sounds nothing like Hans Zimmer. It’s so innocent, and pure. Very lovely. ---- 2-01. "Iso ilo" (ilomilo) Arranger: Eino Keskitalo Vocalist: Birgitta Susi Composer: Daniel Olsén Sources: "Cozy Sofa," "Once Upon" I love the production put into this track. The vocals are very pleasant. 2-02. "Lullaby for an Old Soul" (Final Fantasy VI) Arranger: Abadoss Composer: Nobuo Uematsu Source: "Gau" Very peaceful, and relaxing. Can definitely be used as a lullaby, or a nice stroll. 2-03. "Adagio for Synths" (Final Fantasy IV) Arranger: bLiNd Composer: Nobuo Uematsu Source: "Edward's Harp" Delivers exactly what the title says it is. And that’s not a bad thing at all. 2-04. "Respite" (Kingdom Hearts) Arranger: Emunator Composer: Yoko Shimomura Source: "Dearly Beloved" Not really feeling this one. It’s kind of difficult to pull off a soothing piano arrangement of a track that’s already a soothing piano piece. It just comes across as a kind of “bootleg” attempt at Dearly Beloved. 2-05. "Thy Everlasting Winter Wind Blows" (Pokémon X) Arranger: timaeus222 Composer: Shota Kageyama Sources: "Snowbelle City," "Bicycle" Love the bells, and the synth strings. It feels like you’ve taken Snowbelle City, and made it sound like a town theme for an ancient snowy village. 2-06. "Cherish" (Final Fantasy VI) Arranger: Redg Composer: Nobuo Uematsu Source: "Relm" I know it’s Final Fantasy VI, but this reminds me of the slower music from the Super Castlevania IV soundtrack. And I absolutely love both soundtracks, so that’s perfectly fine by me. 2-07. "Pure Heart" (Secret of Mana) Arranger: Fredrik Häthén Composer: Hiroki Kikuta Source: "Still of the Night" Nice, and almost mysterious. You’re so drawn into this track, it’s almost disappointing that there isn’t more to this track. 2-08. "Merry Dreams" (Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga) Arranger: Chernabogue Composer: Yoko Shimomura Source: "Teehee Valley" Nice. Does a good job capturing the essence of a Mario & Luigi game. 2-09. "Baby Mario Sweepy" (Super Mario Galaxy) Arranger: k-wix Composer: Mahito Yokota Source: "The Star Festival" I love this. It sounds like both Super Mario Galaxy and Yoshi’s Island together at the same time. 2-10. "Rabbit" (To the Moon) Arranger/Performer: Brandon Strader Composer: Kan Gao Sources: "To the Moon - Main Theme," "For River - Piano (Johnny's Version)," "Trailer Theme - Part 2" (lyrics only) Now this sounds like what Dream Fast, Little Pilot should have pulled off. Music that makes you visualize a dreamlike journey filled with wonder, and whimsy. --- 3-01. "Namors Gnudlib Theme (djp Naptime Edit)" [The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time] Arranger/Performer: Sir Jordanius Composer: Koji Kondo Source: "Prelude of Light" Nice, pleasant slow jazz vibe. 3-02. "Dream" (The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time) Arranger/Performer: DusK Performer: Tuberz McGee Composer: Koji Kondo Source: "Zelda's Theme" Great way to incorporate lullaby-esq lyrics to the Zelda theme melody. 3-03. "Off into the Night" (Chrono Trigger) Arranger: pu_freak Composer: Yasunori Mitsuda Sources: "At the Bottom of the Night," "Epilogue - To My Dear Friends" Reminds me of music from Joe Hisaishi. Wonderful arrangement of excellent Chrono Trigger tracks. 3-04. "Another Dream Will Start from Here" (The Legend of Zelda) Arranger/Performer: zykO Composer: Koji Kondo Source: "Ending" Very quirky, and light hearted. A little too long for my tastes, though. Love the guitar work. 3-05. "Dreamtime" (Chrono Trigger) Arranger: E-Bison Composer: Yasunori Mitsuda Source: "Outskirts of Time" VERY dreamlike. Could almost fall asleep to this (in a good way). 3-06. "Dawn of a New Dream" (The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask) Arranger: Radiowar Composer: Koji Kondo Source: "Tatl & Tael" Not a good idea to put this track after the previous. Yes, it’s very dreamlike, but not as dreamlike as the previous track. 3-07. "Goodnight Moon" (DuckTales) Arranger: E-Bison Composer: Hiroshige Tonomura Source: "The Moon" Most appropriate arrangement to follow the lullaby theme. 3-08. "Sleep Tight, No Bed Bugs" (Super Mario Bros. 2) Arranger: norg Composer: Koji Kondo Source: "Ending" I’m loving the piano in this track. 3-09. "Child of Legend" (The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time) Arranger: LindsayAnne Pepper Composer: Koji Kondo Source: "Zelda's Theme" Not quite as impressive as “Dream” but still a great lullaby arrangement of the Zelda theme. Nice way to end the album. --- 4-01. "Zone of the Esthers" (Zone of the Enders) Arranger/Performer: The Legendary Zoltan Composer: Masumi Ito Source: "Kiss Me Sunlights - Opening Theme" K.K. Slider sings you to sleep? Oh wait. It’s the mice from Babe. Still love it. Makes you feel like you’re dreaming in a wonderland. 4-02. "Namors Gnudlib Theme (djp Naptime Edit - Instrumental)" (The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time) Arranger: Sir Jordanius Composer: Koji Kondo Source: "Prelude of Light" It’s…the same track. Only instrumental. Still love it. --- All in all, one of the most creative OCR albums I've ever heard from this website. Excellent work the whole lot of you.