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Getting Started What we call "ReMixing" is just another kind of music making. Don't be intimidated! If you're already a musician, then you already have the skills to ReMix. Learning an instrument, practicing with a computer music program (also known as a "digital audio workstation"), studying up on some music theory, or watching YouTube guitar tutorials will all help you make better ReMixes. If you have no musical background, we highly recommend picking up an instrument like piano or guitar. While in-person lessons are ideal, you can check further in this post for some online resources. You can make music on most any PC or Mac. We have a list of some recommended programs below. While getting a ReMix on OCR is a great goal, creating music should be fun. You should enjoy the process, no matter what the result! Music Making Programs A digital audio workstation is a program used to create, record, edit and sequence audio. In this day and age, most DAWs are quite fully-featured, so if someone tells you that one is "better" than another, that's mostly nonsense. Pick whichever DAW has the best workflow for you. Ableton Live (PC/Mac) $99-749 This is the current leader in the industry, it's relatively easy to use, great for performance/live recording and integrates well/performantly with VSTs. Logic Pro (Mac) $199 FL Studio (PC) $99-499 One of the most popular DAWs on OCR. Though a little unwieldy for audio recording and editing, FL's non-standard workflow can be very fast, particularly for sequencing (writing MIDI notes). Thanks to its large userbase here, there are plenty of folks to answer your questions. REAPER (PC/Mac) [free-ish] $60-225 Fantastic for audio recording and editing, REAPER is a great choice if you plan on recording live instruments. Though its MIDI capability is a little weak and it has no built-in instruments, it's an excellent, fully-featured program with a very customizable workflow and unlimited free demo. REAPER also has a growing fanbase on OCR. Cubase (PC/Mac) $99-579 Like Sonar, this is another venerable DAW with plenty of great features and instruments. Whether you prefer this versus Sonar or REAPER depends on your personal preference. Reason (PC/Mac) $499 ($12.99/month) Another popular DAW. Reason boasts perhaps the best variety of built-in sounds, effects and instruments of any DAW. Like FL, it has a unique workflow and large userbase. Sonar (PC) $99+ ?? - need updates on this One of the first sequencers ever created. Sonar comes in many flavors but has a powerful traditional workflow and a strong suite of built-in instruments. There are many other DAWs out there that aren't listed here. Experiment! Finding New Sounds As you begin making music, you will no doubt want a nice palette of sounds to choose from. On a PC, you will typically look for "VST plugins" which are added to your DAW and add new functionality to create and alter sound. On a MAC, you want "AU plugins". The single best resource for both free AND commercial plugins is KVR Audio. It has an amazing database and search engine allowing you to find all sorts of instruments, effects and samples, sorted by platform, commercial vs. free, etc. However, before downloading more instruments and sounds, you should try to acquaint yourself with the tools available in your DAW. It's easy to download lots of plugins and become overwhelmed; we recommend picking a handful at a time and learning them really well before moving on. Music Education Resources As mentioned earlier, taking music lessons is the best way to improve yourself as a musician (that, and PRACTICE!) There is no substitute for a good teacher or class. If you're in high school, you may have access to basic music theory or technology classes, while most colleges have something similar. Private music teachers often start at around $30/hour, but just one lesson a week will provide substantial benefits over time. That being said, if you simply don't have access to music classes or lessons, there are a few resources you can check out online: MusicTheory.net - Almost any musician from beginner to expert can benefit from studying theory, which helps in both writing and arranging music. Berklee Online - A fantastic resource with free classes from the prestigious Berklee College of Music. Everything from piano and guitar to production, songwriting and arranging. You can't go wrong here. Hardware & Computers The world of music hardware is incredibly vast, but the truth is that you need almost nothing to get started. Your key pieces of hardware are as follows: * A decent computer. Desktops are generally more powerful than laptops, but either will get the job done. Ideally you want something built in the last 6 years. If you're buying a new machine, look for a fast processor and 4+gb of RAM. A solid state drive is also good to have. * A solid pair of headphones.... Good headphone brands include AKG, Sony, Beyerdynamic, Grado, and Audio Technica. More $ doesn't necessarily mean better, and stay away from consumer-oriented headphones like Beats, or bass-enhancing Sennheisers. Something like the ATH-M40 headphones may not be blinged out but they are excellent for listening critically and cost only $50. * ... or speakers / monitors? This may be controversial to some, but I don't recommend doing the bulk of your music-making on speakers or studio monitors unless you can afford to spend at least $150-200 on an entry-level professional-grade set AND you can do some basic acoustic treatment to your room. It's fine to double-check a mix on speakers, but without proper speakers or treatment, it's hard to get a good sense of balance. If you're starting from scratch, start with headphones. * An audio interface. (more to come!)

I think it's finished. I think I'll submit it to OCRemix today or tomorrow. Edit: Finally submitted, as "Seagull Sonata"

This is the very first beat I've ever made, so any feedback and criticism on this would be greatly appreciated. https://soundcloud.com/blackimar/eterna-forest

The Mixit Challenge is a monthly music production challenge in which users pool together a collection of samples, then create songs using ONLY those samples. You are free to manipulate the samples in any way you like -- slicing, pitching, effects, etc. -- but may not use outside samples, instruments, synthesizers, or recordings. Producers of all genres and skill levels are welcome -- for beginners, it is a great learning experience, and for veterans a way to break out of writer's block or push your abilities to their limits through experimentation. More detailed rules can be found in the #rules channel at discord.gg/FRUMyzb This is not a contest, but a challenge -- there are no winners or losers. If you finish a song, or even just learn something new without finishing, you've won. The challenge will be primarily focused on the Discord server, but I will pay attention to this thread as well.

I know this post is old, but this idea is pretty nifty. I'm thinking it might be better to make "The Mixit Challenge" an actual competition as this IS the competition Sub-Forum. The idea is pretty cool though! As for samples, do you mean primarily .wavs and soundfonts (and similar derivatives)?? It'd be hard to provide VSTs - but might be do-able, if they're free. Care to elaborate on what you mean by "pooling samples"?? Thanks!

Submitted, albeit that is a matter of subjectivity. Anyone care to try and kick me off the throne? Feeling a bit lonely atop that hill. Hah!

WIP coming soon, baby. Its ready for a bounce.

If you add in some gentle wind blowing SFX in the background and give the song title something that suggests it's winter, that's most of the sonic imagery right there. Then just add the bells, flute and harp and you're ready to go. Edit: Also, let me post here tomorrow and I can link you to a place I found that has more soundfonts than you can fucking count. It's on my laptop and I'm going to bed right now.

Oh man! This is super chill, but still upbeat at the same time. Love the sounds here, and the guitar is fantastic. This song in my opinion is VGM royalty, so its always interesting to see if it gets proper treatment when arranged. You've done well!

There was a recent discussion of ads for OC ReMixes on YouTube that some of the staff here MIGHT have heard about. I've done a little bit of browsing and investigation and noticed that OverClocked Records has very little - if any - advertising presence outside of OCR itself, aside from a few articles that are two years old. Heck, there's no advertising on the OC Records site itself either. This seems counter-intuitive, considering how much advertising there is for OCR. Is there no appetite for advertising this awesome music elsewhere, or is there a cost/legal restraint, or has no one thought about this because they are too busy with other things?