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It's a free round dude, do what the hell you want lol.

I submitted. It's been a while since i've commented here lol. Been very busy as usual, working nonstop on my entrant.

I think a lot of truth rings in that. Who we are, what we are, and how we grew up will affect us with everything we do, not just songwriting. I know it affects the way I write fiction and draw, for example. And Thunder's analogy is real good as well. I think, indeed, we just have to keep making cakes. To add to that metaphor, basically, when you start out producing music (especially I'd figure the first year or two), it's gonna be like baking a cake at 10 years old. It's gonna be messy. It's gonna look like absolute shit. Hell, it might not even be edible!--however, as you do it, you'll start to figure out things in your head. Being able to measure the condensed milk, butter and eggs without necessarily needing a measuring cup. Getting the timing right for it baking in the oven perhaps without a timer going. Instinct will take over. Innovation with throwing different chocolates or fruits or nuts into the mixture, or in making different kinds of cake, be it a gingerbread cake or a black forest gateau. You just get better as it goes along, and you find your 'niche' in the kind of cake you like. Ya know, it's actually nice to see someone else grow up with the same sort of influences around here as well, atop of classical-trained singing. I wish I took up chorus as well in school (as I can sing but am not professionally trained, in the same instance I can play keyboard but I taught myself for the most part.) But yeah, having that very Black American background of gospel, rap, hip-hop and R&B under ones belt is extremely distinctive. I'd guess that's why when people pick up on certain songs, it's just there, and you can't really hide that. But as a caveat to what you're saying, there's absolutely nothing wrong with meshing genres together. You mention Nobuo Uematsu. He does it all the time (FFVII & VIII are prime examples of the mesh of rock n' roll, heavy metal and orchestra). Groups like the Trans-Siberian Orchestra with their Christmas / winter albums do it. The bands Apocalyptica, Florence & the Machine and 2Cellos do it. It can very well be a niche you can fill, and as far as I know, very few people have filled it. Like, I can imagine myself being so spontaneously crazy as to make a full album that's very Black gospel-choir orientated, but with heavy industrial techno / psytrance behind it. That's just how split my personality is. I guess it's something to think about, and maybe roll with the punches on. :3 Take your strengths (and what some may deem weaknesses), and show 'em who's boss. I said something similar to my friend @HoboKa in a PM, and it's an adage I try to now place on myself when faced with heavy scrutiny and criticism. And TBF, the biggest critic and scrutinizer is myself. :/ I think a lot of us are, by measure of this forum topic and replies alone.

What an amazing analogy at the end. That is so helpful in thinking about how musicians as individuals like to approach their own works. Thank you for your kind and attentive words. Thank you for sharing your experiences! It really does have this dual feeling when you have someone comment on what they like about what you're doing or what feel it has. As a classically trained musician (singer) I feel as though I need to like, be able to compose in proper orchestral settings at least sometimes and be able to succeed at it. Especially if I cite John Williams as one of my key inspirations. But on the flip side, the other three musicians I see explicitly in my music are Yoko Kanno, Nobuo Uematsu, and Eric Whitacre. I think the outcome so far is that I lean more towards a atmospheric sound a lot of the times. Like you, I want to be able to challenge myself and write other things. Not just as a challenge, but because I like all sorts of music. Michael Jackson is my favorite artist and I have musical roots as a listener in hip hop, R&B, and gospel as well. I also really enjoy prog rock and electropop. I want to make music that sounds like all that too! And yet, I haven't been successful so far. Moreover, it's not the music that tends to pour out of me to the point where I hit the keys and fire up pro tools. Maybe some of the problems I and others have is we don't know how or are unsure of ourselves when trying to Branch out. I don't know how to make beats...but I can make 30 bars of classical ish sounding music. I think it's why I get VSTs I rarely use. Hoping I'll one day just learn as I fiddle with them. I never made music with sound effects either but I learned/am learning. I guess the journey continues on! Edit: I just want to add that in thinking on it more, there may be a big difference between our musical influences as opposed to what one of the guys from spitfire coined as our musical heritage. Maybe...think of it as what or whose music is transparent in and actively affects our pieces being our influences. This is opposed to our inspirations and surroundings that we consumed and used to direct our paths toward music being our heritage. It more passively affects what we make and why. Something to think about.

subb'd a bonus. Gonna try and sneak in a vote too!

Nevermind I managed a way around it and finally was able to sign out and login under a different user name to do it. xD

Hello OCR, I'd like to share my first Music Asset Package on GameDev Market. https://www.gamedevmarket.net/asset/cyberpunk-strategy-puzzle/ Got my first Asset Package on GameDev Market. Some of the tunes were lifted from my Cyborg Hobo Cavemen and altered to work in the context of a game, and dramatically changed in some cases. Got an RPG (action & turn-based) Pack in the works too!

The People's Remix Competition 419 PRCv17-17 Hello everyone and Welcome to the People's Remix Competition! Time to end 2020 with a free round. No source limitations (non VG sources and originals are allowed), even MIDI rips are allowed. Remember that it is also allowed to post multiple songs. I don't think ThaSauce can handle with multiple submissions by the same user, but if you want to submit a second song you can post a download link in this thread so I can fix it. I'll limit the number of submssions posted by the same user to 3 (and try to get >1 songs in for this round myself). http://compo.thasauce.net/rounds/view/PRC419 The deadline is Wednesday January 6th 2021 at 10:59 am ThaSauce time (18:00 UTC, 19:00 GMT), check the link for the exact time left. Make sure that the song is uploaded to ThaSauce or that there’s a download link posted in this thread. You may enter as many mixes as you like and work with as many people as you like on each mix. You are free to create a second ThaSauce account for that if you use ThaSauce, it's needed to be able to upload a second remix if you use ThaSauce. Of course you can also upload it somewhere else and put a download link in this thread. Do not make qualitative comments on an entry until the results of the vote have been posted in this thread. Mixers cannot vote for themselves but if they vote they receive a free first place vote added onto their score (when mutiple songs are submitted, the bonus is for every song so it's even more attractive to vote). The winner of this round may select the source for PRC421, the second round of next season.. You can find the full rules list at this page as well. GOOD LUCK! PRC ThaSauce Home Page!

Wasn't meaning it in a bad way. xD Just very impressive. ♥

JEEZ... Wow that's going well and above AND beyond the call of duty, Gamer! Wait full OSTs count? That's like over 3 songs. >_> Bruh! Still tho, can't wait to listen to it since I like Jet Set Radio's aesthetic. :3

Make that 9 lol.

Yeah you know what fuck it let's do it. As soon as it hits 24 hrs left on the PRC imma make a Castlevania remix. Won't be the one I promised but I promised one nonetheless. I can handle remixing ONE midi at least. XD

Might upload a 3rd. Maybe do a challenge to make a complete song in 24 hrs. XD

I think someone already fixed this. I changed something again so if you even plan to make another song you should be able to upload it with your regular account. If that doesn't work you can e-mail the song to NOSPAMbambombim@gmail.com (removing NOSPAM from the mail adress). 8 songs already (3 by myself and 2 by The VodouQueen) and there's one day left.

This is lovely. With so very many official arrangements of the chocobo theme, it's great to see a fresh take is still possible, and this track does an excellent job of representing both the source material and the genre without making either feel out of place. Definitely going on my stream playlist~

@Bundeslang Welp, I can't log out of Compoverse to try Gamer's suggestion. . . And, unfortunately, I am not a huge fan of having my songs be downloadable in public on the Internet (even though I am aware there's plenty of workarounds people can do to that.) Unsure what to do? I have a 2nd song I'd like to post up but it's got a blurb for it and Compoverse isn't playing nicely it seems.

Also, here's the examples of how somehow, even with different genres, my drum & bass are pretty much stylistically similar: Hardcore / Techno: Orchestral / Electronic: ACTUAL Lo-Fi / Hip-Hop: New Age / Jazz (the one that seems to have been poorly executed): There's more in my SoundCloud of various stuff I've done so far, but yeah. . . It all seems to carry the same undertones, and everybody keeps describing every song as such. D:

Hey, kinda wanted to jump into this conversation because it seems interesting and I think I can add my own '2 cents' to it. I just started 'producing' music around early Sept 2020, and I can agree and feel a lot of what all of you are saying, even if I am new to this. I've noticed, between what I've submitted to MnP Compos and a music mix songwriting challenge this past December that, although I do try to branch out and 'conquer' different genres of music, be it New Age (the theme of the songwriting challenge), Synthwave, Hardcore, Techno, Rock--what have you--I always get the same commentary across the board, no matter what other constructive critiques or positives / negatives people perceive of my work: "You have a good / wonderful / cool / etc concept / understanding of drumwork and percussion and beat, and it sounds LO-FI / HIP-HOP"--which may or may not work with the theme or overall piece of the compo (as it seemed to have not with the song I submitted for the songwriting challenge). And I have a weird...duality with that and a slight negative complex now, and unsure what to do with it or how to deal with it. Like, in all honesty, I am proud that at the very least, even if my melody or harmonics is a bit off or dissonant (which I guess comes with the terf of being a newbie, something is going to be off with what you produce until you get the professional ear for it. Maybe any Jo-Shmo wouldn't know, but your peers will know where and how you fucked up, plus or minus their own bias and nuance when it comes to music tastes.) At the very least, I seem to understand beat and rythym enough to not have a complete dumpster fire on my hands. But it's kind of giving me a stigma that everything I do, no matter the genre, is going to have the same lo-fi / hip-hop-style foundation to it. I mean, is that a thing of growing into one's own style and I guess...trademark stamp of what makes their work, THEIR WORK, or...is that a detrimental fault to the learning process? It's a real bi-fold quandry. For example, I've listened to everybody's posted work on here (great stuff BTW), and even if they're described under different genre headings, I CAN hear a fundamental line of style that makes its impression on all your work, be it a string instrument you use a lot, or an orchestral undertone, or even the beat-work. And then I thought about it further, and juxtaposed that stance with multiple songs I hear across multiple singers / bands. . . I think we all have our own stamp to our music, that is fomulated over the course of us playing around and learning and even from our individual backgrounds. Like...I think WHY my music keeps coming out with heavy, snazzy beats as such is because I heavily grew up listening to African-American music, because I am Black. Literally since a baby I grew up listening to stuff like Miles Davis, John Coltrane, every Motown-song under the sun, and in later years, stuff like Lauryn Hill, The Fugees, Black Eyed Peas, etc. That's not to say I didn't listen to other genres. My Dad and Mom would play stuff like the Doors, Jimi Hendrix, Dr Dre, Black Sabbath, and in my teens - early 20s I listened to a lot of different heavy metal and rock n' roll and electronica music, from Disturbed to Staind to The Prodigy to H.I.M. ...It's a conglomerate of all kinds of stuff, inclusive of VGMs and RMs. But almost a good chunk of all of that has the one foundational aspect: they all do heavy bassline and drumkit. Now pair that with the fact my father used to play and practice drumming in the house on a professional level. He never got into a band or anything, but the man knew his shit and even had different sticks and percussion kits, even if it was a hobby. So it's ingrained into my skull so much that even if I can shift in producing different genres of music, it's all gonna come out with similar bass & drum works. Now, is that going to be a detriment or problem in the long run? I don't really know. Is it the growth of my own style? Maybe? Hell, I am just as bamboozled as the rest of you on that stance. But I agree with Thunder and Bloo: I think in the long run, it's about building experience and making the WHOLE of a song as awesome as possible, not necessarily it's individual parts. If you're good at something already and that's your artistic stamp, let it be your artistic stamp. No one can take that away from you. It can only grow and blossom as you conquer different genres and make it your own. I've noticed every professional artist has this bent, whether it's a sample they use over and over across their songs (e.g. Snoop Dogg), or the beat (e.g. Savant), or even how they sing (e.g. Mariah Carey). P.S.: Sorry if this is a huge post, was in the middle of a thought-flow when I typed this up ROFL.

I guess artists of all kinds will have some degree of dissatisfaction with our work, but its good to have some introspection and evaluate how you're doing on style, quality, and such. I've personally found it a little satisfying when two or more of my songs sound similar, as though they belong together in an album. My stance is to embrace the kind of music you instinctively want to create. But it's good to make a conscious effort to try other things as well. On feeling locked in a style, my friend, Souperion, and I often joke about how much we use violins and other strings in our composition. We tried daring each other to not use any string instruments in songs, but most often I gravitate back to the instruments and styles I've used before. To draw on baking for an analogy, music is similar to baking a cake: Many chocolate cakes have been made before, but mine will have the frosting, colors, and layers that I like in it. And Reece's Peanut Butter Cups. Lots of peanut butter cups. So keep making cake.

I've taken the liberty of updating the OC-ReMoved-related entries of the MusicBrainz database (my first MB DB edits! \^_^/). Here's a summary of what I did: Moved all expunged items from OverClocked ReMix series to OC ReMoved series. Accordingly, renamed title suffixes from "ReMix" to "ReMoved". Merged duplicate OCR00366 (Mega Man 3 'X Intro') recordings. Removed defunct doulifee.com links from all expunged items. Updated the OC ReMoved series annotation to be better. Note that nearly all of these edits need to go through voting, so probably won't be visible yet as of this writing. Here are some questions and observations that cropped up while doing this work: There are three pre-OCR4000 entries (OCR03695, OCR03744, OCR03783) apparently missing from MusicBrainz. These ought to be added, no? There are two items (OCR00461 - Adventure Island 'Higgins Goes to Miami' OC ReMix and OCR01059 - Super Castlevania IV 'Belmont Mix' OC ReMix) whose URLs on ocremix.org give 404. They are labeled "ReMoved" on MusicBrainz, but not mentioned in the removal log, and still present in the torrent. These either need to be restored on ocremix.org, or removed from the torrent and mentioned in the changelog, right? The quoting style on MusicBrainz has changed recently. Starting with OCR03382, the style switched from single quotes to double quotes. Starting with OCR04089, the style switched from straight double quotes to curly double quotes. But the style guide says to use single quotes. Should these three styles be reconciled? Similarly, should the style guide mention that removed entries should use "ReMoved" rather than "ReMix" as the suffix? OCR02385 was a tune lifted from the Pokémon Advanced Generation anime, not eligible for inclusion in MB as its own entry. But the OST for the Pokémon anime is likely in MusicBrainz. Should the relevant track be added to the OC ReMoved series with the OCR02385 code? Or no? Entries after OCR04019 are only sporadically added. The big torrent currently goes up to OCR04000. I don't have time to download and add the newest items myself, but just thought I'd mention it here for completeness. @CyberSkull Thank you for all the trailblazing work you did getting OC ReMix added to MusicBrainz. Very useful!

I am so pathologically opposed to being locked into a sound or genre that it's actually counterproductive when I come up with an idea and immediately scrap it because it sounds too similar to a style or feel I did in another song, even if the song itself would be completely different. I honestly wish I could dial it back somewhat.

Heya! I'll let this be my first time joining in on the PRC fun. Think I'll stick to VG remixes, but put a unique spin on whatever themes / sources I use. Will be my first time conglomerating songs together across a series of games to make 1 song. Hope it works out. >_<

Did a submission myself as well.

Me and my friend Souperion are collaborating on something for this. Looking forward to this round!

I've submitted a track I was working on for a discarded OCR album. It's not totally finished, but it'll do.

Welp, time to let my 10-year experience express itself at it's fullest. Submission done, It's an original track I made exclusively for this round. No VGM this time, only my style. Hope you'll like it. (Oh and yeah, it's repetitive).

Will definitely enter this round, if life lets me have fun for like a minute.