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I tried to keep this brief, but as you might know, that's not my forte. FIRST, the facts... On October 28th I informed staff that I was stepping down from my role as president/admin/owner/etc. of OverClocked ReMix, and on November 1st I also stepped down from the board of Game Music Initiative, the 501c3 non-profit organization that funds OCR. In short, I no longer feel I have the bandwidth to do these roles justice and to not only maintain, but advance, the missions of both projects. I will be working with Shariq Ansari (DarkeSword) to transition my responsibilities and ensure continuity of operations. The (excellent!) mix posted on Halloween was published without my direct involvement, subsequent posts up to the milestone #OCR04500 have been superbly executed, and I am confident that staff will continue the work necessary to operate - and evolve - OCR in my absence. I will be even less available than I have been, lately, so I apologize in advance for any lack of responsiveness. THEN, the feels... Where to even begin? It's hard to encapsulate over two decades of history; omissions are inevitable. What began as a neat side project I started in my parents' basement in 1999 snowballed into something far beyond my wildest expectations, due to the blood, sweat, tears, and unbridled, rampant creativity that thousands of you have contributed. Much of this happened before social media was even a thing and before the platforms/services we now heavily associate with the modern internet had come into being; it was a frontier, and we were on it, and we took it pretty seriously because we knew how amazing VGM is, how creative arrangements could effectively convey and explore that vast musical landscape, and how a small fandom communicating via email, IRC, & forums could collaborate to build mighty, new things. We took it seriously, often too seriously, but we ALSO played more than a few rounds of Shaq-Fu at conventions, made some truly ridiculous (but always musical!) joke mixes, and developed internal circles of lore with our own memes & jargon. NOT in strictly chronological order: there was some drama with now-legendary composer Jake Kaufman; VGMix entered the fray; we added a judges panel so it wasn't just me making stuff up; we released our first community album; the unmoderated forum birthed its own sort of... subculture; the site itself evolved to be database-driven and not just two giant dropdowns sorted by game/date; we posted mixes submitted by composers George "The Fat Man" Sanger and Jeremy Soule; we met/interviewed Hiroki Kikuta and Nobuo Uematsu; our album trailers by the incomparable José the Bronx Rican started blowing minds; we started appearing in person at Otakon, PAX, MAG, others - much love to all for having us; we bumped into Leeroy Jenkins at ROFLcon and gave him a hoodie; we started hosting from our own server and managing the technical side of things ourselves; thanks to Mr. Shael Riley (among others!), we got to remix the music for an actual Street Fighter game (!!); we released fifteen more albums... ...and then we turned ten, on December 11th of 2009. Quite a first decade, and I missed hundreds of things I shouldn't have. Hundreds of firsts, some tragic lasts, and millions of memories that can't quite be conjured by words. In 2011, we stood up for Fair Use at World’s Fair Use Day, an event organized by the non-profit Public Knowledge. In 2012, we launched our kickstarter for Final Fantasy VI: Balance and Ruin, it was taken down, we talked with Square lawyers directly for a couple hours and made the non-profit project structure clear & contractual, and we relaunched a successful kickstarter. That's not always how those things go! We launched Game Music Initiative in 2016, creating an official 501c3 charity to formalize the finances around OCR and potentially support other VGM-related projects, too. On a related note, I’ve absolutely loved seeing OC ReMixes featured by charity speedrunners Games Done Quick (GDQ) - it’s exactly the type of thing I always wanted to see, that synergy. Things do start getting a little quieter from then on out, and I think there are a ton of reasons for that, but it has been an incredible and improbable journey that I wouldn't have missed for the world. Thank you ALL for making it possible; OCR was always yours, I aspired only to stewardship of something I wanted to exist for everyone. FINALLY, the future… It's time - some would say past time - for OverClocked ReMix itself to be ReMixed. That's the point, right? Infinite permutation; endless possibility. You don't always know the day, month, or even year when your influence on something starts holding it back, or when the waning amount of time and energy you can dedicate becomes a liability. That type of certainty is often elusive; it can be a difficult diagnosis to even contemplate, and you need to look for & listen to signs. In addition to just being too much of a single point of failure for OCR (sorry, engineering mindset), the last year I've been asking myself whether it was time to let go, and I think the answer is sometimes in the asking. I have been stretched thin, like butter scraped over too much bread, and that's when you leave the Shire. Beyond representing what I genuinely believe is best for the future of OCR, I absolutely confess a personal wish to redirect reclaimed time & energy to my family and my own music. Being a husband to my wife Anna and being a father to our daughters Esther and Sarah is my meaning; I have always put them first, but now I can put them even MORE first. Esther just started learning trombone, so in a few years, expect a collab! Sarah is building her confidence learning piano & makes me proud every day. I want to write new music for them, and with them, and that requires more time than I've had. I believe the principles that have driven us - embracing all games & all styles of music, emphasizing interpretation & creativity, offering both curation and critique, and providing a non-commercial platform for those who seek it - are truly timeless, but there are many ways to honor them. I look to the new leadership/staff to galvanize, streamline, diversify, and re-imagine, within that immense space. I'll be leaving them with some ideas of my own; please let them know yours. I ask the community to support them, embrace change, provide guidance, and be patient; I believe it will be worth it! Thanks, - djpretzel

Well it's been about a week or two, so as the new guy in charge, I figure I ought to say something, right? When djpretzel started the process of handing over the keys to the family car, I have to admit I was pretty overwhelmed. OCR is one of the oldest and most rock-solid sites on the internet; I've often said that we're older than YouTube, older than smartphones, and older than a lot of things on the internet that, by virtue of their ubiquity, feel like institutions. OCR is an institution. There's a lot of weight in those keys. So what am I going to do with OCR now that I'm in the driver's seat? In the short term: keep driving. Our main goal is going to be continuity; that is to say, keep posting ReMixes on a regular basis. We've got a pretty big backlog of ReMixes that are ready for the spotlight, and our excellent and talented community continues to send us new music all the time, so we're not worried about running out. But there sure is a lot of behind-the-scenes process involved with getting these tracks in your ears, so bear with us while the staff--with djpretzel's help--figures all of this out. I still believe that there's a case to be made for the curation model that we've developed and adhered to for 20+ years, so we're still going to have a Judges Panel that's going to evaluate submissions, and the bar for quality that the judges look for isn't shifting in any direction. One of our goals in this changeover is to decentralize a lot of process off of one person. djpretzel did a lot on his own, and as we look at some things behind-the-scenes, maybe he didn't have to. I want OCR to be a place that can be run by a trusted group of people without a single point-of-failure. Case-in-point: literally one week after I take on leadership at OCR, my 8-month-old son brings home COVID from somewhere and gets the whole house sick, and we're having OCR staff meetings and figuring out how to post ReMixes while I'm coughing up a lung. Unbelievable. So I'm also hoping to bring more people onto the OCR staff. I've already pulled in some folks from the community, and we're going to figure out how to provide avenues for more people to help out if they're interested. Keep an eye out. Beyond that though, I've got a couple of ideas for improvements and features that have been brewing for a while that I'm going to start to pursue, leveraging some existing tech we already have and also exploring some new tech. For those that are unaware, my day job is working as a web and application developer at a major university. It's something I've been doing for 15 years and I have a pretty solid handle on building database-driven web applications. I'm going to bring a little of that experience to OCR, and hopefully we can eventually have some cool toys and tools in place to help move the site forward. Some things to look forward to: I've already put together a Currently in the Judging Process dashboard for ReMixers and hopefuls to keep an eye on. It's a live view of the judging process without having to wait for a Judge to update a forum thread. We're actively developing and testing a proper Submission form for ReMixers and hopefuls to use when sending us music. We've been asking you to send us an email for far too long. That's going to change. We've put together a "stream team" to evaluate how we can do more with our YouTube channel and even get things going on Twitch in some capacity. There are a lot more things we're talking about internally as well, but I don't want to over-promise anything right now. If you have ideas for OCR, feel free to share them in our Site Issues & Feedback forum. I'd also love for folks to come by and join our OC ReMix Discord server. I know the forums have been pretty sleepy for a few years now, but the chat server is lively and active. Hope to see you there.

I'm happy to announce a couple of staffing changes here at OCR. First up, I wanna welcome @Hemophiliac to our Judges Panel! Hemo's been putting in the work for the last few years as one of our Workshop Evaluators, and has also stepped up in the past few months to handle a lot of the visualizers for the remixes you see on our YouTube channel. He's an active presence in our community and has a lot of helpful advice in the Workshop. We're glad to add him to the panel. Look forward to getting some fresh new NO votes on your tracks! Speaking of Workshop Evaluators, a few months ago we retired our Ready for Review process in the Workshop because we felt that it was a cumbersome extra layer of evaluation prior to submitting to the Judge's Panel. Our Evaluators did a lot of great work over the years but we're retiring that role. In it's place, we're introducing our new team called Sages! Sages are active artists in our community who'll be in the Workshop giving feedback on remixes, posting tutorials, and coming up with their own ways to revitalize and energize the Workshop. Our three new Sages are @Xaleph, @pixelseph, and @paradiddlesjosh! We're glad to have some fresh faces on staff, and I'm personally looking forward to seeing what these folks have in store for us. -- DarkeSword

Happy New Year, everyone! Just wanted to check-in and let you all know that we've got a new submissions process for remixes. Since the inception of the site, we've been asking you to host your file somewhere and send us an email with a bunch of information about your remix. This has lead to a lot of headaches on both your end and our end, but now we're finally moving forward with a more modern method. Introducing the new Submissions Tracking page! We've used our forum software to build out a custom form where you can upload your track directly to us. This post will get a status and linked to a decision thread, and it also features a comments section where judges can communicate with you about issues with your remix. Submissions are private, so only you and the judges can see them. In the coming months we'll be retiring the old email method of submitting remixes with an auto-response that'll direct folks towards the new system. This new form, combined with our recently revamped Currently in the Judging Process dashboard, will help you keep tabs on your submissions. A big shout out to all of the ReMixers and Judges who helped me test out this new system. I've had ideas for years for turning our submissions and judging workflows into a fully integrated piece of software, and while the limitations of our forum software prevent us from hitting that goal 100%, this is a huge step in the right direction. I'm looking forward to hearing what you all are going to send us. — DarkeSword

I don`t know exactly what I want to say, and none of this is planed out, but I think its wild this place is still around. For one reason or another Ill check the remixes and get a wave of "the good old days" and not just from the music but this community, Which Ill admit, I was not super active, but from the time when I first came across it, I think maybe a TechTv show sent me this way? Its wild people are still mixing Aquatic ambiance, and it still puts a smile on my face. I remember the first album I watched get released was Kong In Concert, I burned it to a disc (mp3 cd players were so cool) and would listen to it in Algebra 1, perhaps its why took algebra one twice. I always wanted to be musical I would love to be able to contribute in that way. Thank you to everyone that still makes music for this community even If it gets said once or thousands of time it's very appreciated.

Well ladies and gents, it's the time of year again. The time when a group of ragtag remixers comes together and makes a Christmas album for everyone to freely grab and (hopefully) enjoy. This year, we're offering up 14 remixes of both traditional Christmas carols and video game songs, all done up to give that holiday vibe to everyone. So feel free to hop on over to the website and grab yourself a copy of An OverClocked Christmas v.XV. A big thanks goes out to Dyne for once again hosting the album, and to those who made the mixes this year. And of course, Merry Christmas from all of us involved in this project! https://williammichael.info/aocc/

Just chiming in - no matter what Soule did, this game's soundtrack is a part of many folks' childhoods, and nothing changes that. However, deciding to participate in this project is one of those topics where, personally, I don't think there's a right or wrong answer. I've explained my personal reasoning, and how I conceive of art in the abstract, but I'm not offended if anyone finds it unpersuasive/disagrees. Key thing is that no one gets judged, either way, for their decision on this, or attempts to equate others' decisions to participate with a tacit endorsement of the behavior in question.

This thing again? Yep. Another year, another album of various songs done up in a Christmasy style in multiple genres. There are 15 remixes for you enjoy this holiday season, making for just under an hour of tunage. And on behalf of everyone involved, thanks for listening and Merry Christmas. https://williammichael.info/aocc/

Hey all! Just some quick updates I wanted to let you all know about. Site & Forum Updates If you're an artist, your forum profile now includes a link to your artist page. This also shows up in your little profile box when you post threads. I've been doing a couple of small style and layout tweaks to forum listings in an effort to reduce some whitespace. Guidelines for certain forums have been moved out of the announcements module to the forum's internal rules setting. You'll see a relevant link on forums that have specific guidelines. I did a pass on forum profile fields and deleted a lot of obsolete data (like the field for your ICQ number!). There are a couple of new fields too, like Pronouns and Discord. Make sure you head over to your account settings and keep that profile updated! Tagging has been disabled on forum threads for regular members. We (the staff) weren't seeing a lot of sensical or consistent usage, so we're in the process of cleaning those up. We may revisit forum thread tags later with predefined options. The Ready to Review process in the Post Your Game ReMixes forum has been retired. It served us well for a couple of years but after a while we found that people were not engaging with it, and it felt like another bureacratic layer to the submission process. We've gone back to the older, more open-ended format where you can just post your remixes for feedback. A similar process in the Recruit & Collaborate forum has also been retired. Vote counts on submissions in the queue have been moved out of thread titles and into tags for the purposes of some internal tooling I'd like to try, so you won't see those anymore on the Currently dashboard and I worked on fixing how that data gets pushed to the dashboard, so you'll still see vote counts. Upcoming Events Do you have OPINIONS about REMIXES? Join us this Thursday at 8:30PM EST on Discord where we run the first-of-hopefully-many Review Bombs! We're going to get a listening party going for OC ReMixes that have gone the longest without having any reviews and rectify the situation. I've heard of Metroidvania, but METROID VERSUS VANIA?! This Friday, we're kicking off the second run of Game Set Mash!!, our long-form team-based remix competition. This run features music from two legendary franchises: Metroid and Castlevania, and two teams will compete to see who can make the best Metroidvania Mashups. They'll have two weekends to get their tracks done, so check back at the start of February and get your votes in! Speaking of competitions, I'd be remiss if I didn't shout-out the People's Remix Competition, which just ended a legendary 20 year run under the stewardship of @Bundeslang. I remember back when PRC started back in 2003 (!!) and it's been a rock solid staple of OC ReMix since then, with a lot of musicians in the community developing and honing their skills through their participation. Absolutely incredible work from everyone involved over these past two decades. Make sure you check out the thread for the last round! Well, that's all from me for now. I'm still getting a handle on how everything works and fits together here, but slowly-and-surely we're going to continue to inch OCR ever-forward. Thanks! - DarkeSword

And here we are yet again. Another year has passed and the latest AOCC is done and ready for consuming. For the moment, it's a link to my Dropbox. But once Dyne gets the site ready, I'll change it go there. From all of us who took part in the overclocking of Christmas this year, we all hope you enjoy the music https://williammichael.info/aocc/

It's that time. Once again, some of the folks who post on OCR have come together to make an album full of Christmas-y remixes for you to enjoy. This year, we've got 10 tracks that touch on a number of genres and moods, along with some pixel cover art by yours truly. You can download the project from the link below, so feel free to grab it... along with the other 13 albums As always, thanks to everyone who participated, tried to participate, and to Dyne for continuing to host it. http://williammichael.info/aocc/aoccv14.html http://williammichael.info/aocc/

Well hello there, folks! Yes, the time has once again come. As has been the tradition for over a decade now, remixers new and seasoned have come together to make a Christmas album for everyone to enjoy. Featuring songs from video games that were given a little yuletide twist, and traditional Christmas carols that got a kick in the genre, this year we have 10 songs for you get into the spirit with. Once again, a "thanks" goes out to Dyne for hosting this. And from all of us involved with this project, we hope you have a merry Christmas http://williammichael.info/aocc/aoccv13.html

We scoured the land for the most evil people we could find to join us, and we're proud to add @prophetik music and @Rexy to the judges panel. I'm personally aiming to finally have that submissions queue go to 0 by the end of this year, and we're excited to have their help. Revel in their fresh perspectives and presence now before they become entrenched in the system and simply become part of the evil mass of musical oppression that the rest of us have morphed into. (a.k.a. WELCOME!)

For the last time, it's results time Hopefully everything is counted correct (just added the voter bonus, assuming that nobody voted twice for the same song or for his own song, the winner is clear. The final last wooden spoons go to Evktalo, Silverpool64, BRKPNT, Jorito and (again) BRKPNT without any points. The 18th place is for both Sadorf and Treyt with two points. 8 Songs tie for 10th place: AlchemicJay, TheVodouQueen, Jorito, Wassup Thunder, Unknown Pseudoartist, (again) AlchemicJay, JH Sounds and AZPX with 3 points The 6th place is for Hemophiliac, Yami, Bundeslang and HoboKa with 4 points. The fourth place is for Souperion and HarlemHeat360 with 6 points. Third place is for TheVideoGamer with 7 points. XPZA got second place with 10 points. And the winner of PRC472 is Coloradoweeks with 23 points. Congratulations Coloradoweeks, even if I miscalculed half of the votes you are still in the winner of the final PRC round. Well deserved, and close to an unanimous win. You still may pick a source but it will not be used for a further PRC. You can send it to me by PM or just post it in this thread. Some followers might reward your win with a remix, or I might organise a special round somewhere in the future. Even tough Coloradoweeks is the winner of this round, I think we all have won this one. A fantastic amount of remixes resulting in the end of PRC. Big thanks to all remixers, voters and listeners, the OC Remix and ThaSauce Community http://sites.google.com/site/bambombim/prc for all rounds and winners. https://compo.thasauce.net/rounds/view/prc472 for the votes and comments. If anyone is interested in any old PRC songs, I have them somewhere so I can share them if there is any interest. Everything from PRC94 and later is at the ThaSauce site. This is the end of PRC, but not from my visits to OC Remix. I Will Return (but not as PRC host). Thank You

Hi @Bundeslang. First, I want to sincerely thank you for keeping PRC going for as long as you did. PRC was a huge part of my development as an artist in the early days of OCR along other older competitions like IMC and I made a lot of collabs and friends in these competitions. I am no longer making music, nor I am around online much but when I saw the email about this PRC being the last I had to jump in to salute and thank you and the oher artists. I would say the absolute best part of being part of the community by far were PRC and other compos. The constraints of the competitions I felt really helped me break out of some walls, and some of the remixes I made here both as sir_nuts and as showroom dummy made the jump to the front page. Again thank you and all of those who participated over the years. Hope you are doing great and wish you nothing but the absolute best in the future.

It's the day before Thanksgiving. I'm thankful for this community and the people in it. You guys are pretty neat.

We don't have that much votes, so I give another week to vote. New and final voting deadline January 17th.

Welcome to the first ever Game Set Mash!!, a new team-based longform competition format for the OC ReMix community! Current Status Game Set Mash!! 1 has come to an end, with both teams earning 27 points by the end of the competition. Congratulations to everyone on such a close competition. Fantastic work. Music Round 1 Remix Pack Round 2 Remix Pack Round 3 Remix Pack Scoring Each submission is worth 2 points, and each victory is worth 2 point. A tie results in 1 point for each participant. The scores for Round 1 are as follows Team SNES - 3 submissions + 2 victories = 10 points. Team PSX - 3 submissions + 1 victory = 8 points. The scores for Round 2 are as follows Team SNES - 3 submissions + 1 victory + 1 tie = 9 points. Team PSX - 3 submissions + 1 victory + 1 tie = 9 points. The scores for Round 3 are as follows Team SNES - 3 submissions + 1 victory = 8 points Team PSX - 3 submissions + 2 victories = 10 points The total scores are as follows Team SNES - 27 points Team PSX - 27 points Team Rosters Team SNES: Yami, The Vodoú Queen, colorado weeks, Aeroprism, ZackParrish, Xaleph Team PSX: pixelseph, H36T, paradiddlesjosh, Emunator, Hemophiliac How does the competition work? Participating remixers will form 2 teams of at least 3 members each. Each team will be assigned a set of 3 games. The competition lasts 6 weeks, with week-long mixing rounds alternating with week-long voting periods. At the start of the mixing round, each team will choose and reveal 1 source tune from each of their 3 games. Each source will be paired with another source from the opposing team, for a total of 3 pairs. Each team will be responsible for writing 3 remixes for the week that combine (or mash) both source tunes in each pair. At the end of the mixing round, we'll upload the remixes and have a community vote. Voters will vote on the 3 remixes that did the best job of mashing the two source tunes together. Teams will accumulate a score based on how many of the community votes they win. In the next mixing round, we'll rotate which games get paired up with opposing games. What are the rules about teams? I want to make things easy and accessible for people to participate, so there's no maximum on team size, but I will be asking people to do their best to even out the teams once we have all of our participants signed up. Unlike previous competitions I've run, there's no rules about who has to be a primary arranger for a track from week to week. Teams will be free to organize and determine how each of the three remixes gets covered. Using your teammates for collaboration and feedback is highly encouraged. What are the games we're remixing? For the first GSM, one team will be SNES Final Fantasy games (FF4, FF5, and FF6) going up against a team for PSX Final Fantasy games (FF7, FF8, FF9). Almost any song from these expansive, legendary soundtracks is allowed, save for a few exceptions: specifically, songs that show up in both SNES and PSX games, like the Prelude or any variation of the Chocobo and Moogle themes. When your team is picking sources at the start of the remixing rounds, pick something unique to each game. This seems like it'll take a long time, when does it start? I'm aiming to gather interest here on the forums and in our Discord and I'd like to start in August, depending on if we can get some sizable teams. I would love to have around 6-7 people on each team to really get the spirit of collaboration going. I'm happy to answer any more questions. It's been about 4-5 years since we've done one of our bigger multi-round competitions. I'm hoping to see some new faces in the mix.

Hi all! I'm posting this topic to announce my upcoming 9-bit chiptune music game, Rhythm Quest! Wishlist on Steam now! Rhythm Quest is a 2-button rhythm platformer game developed by DDRKirby(ISQ). (that's me!) Jump, attack, and fly to the beat to get past challenging obstacles in this rhythm-based twist on a traditional "runner" game. I'm personally handling all aspects of the game, including coding, music, game design, artwork, and production. In particular, being both the composer and level designer has allowed me to create music tracks that are mapped out specifically to provide call-outs to obstacles in the game. Check it out in action in the gameplay trailer! Each type of enemy requires different button sequences to defeat: Wings offer extra mid-air jumps, while flight paths require you to hold down the jump button: Speed zones change up the rhythm of the song: Rhythm Quest will release on Steam/itch.io for PC/Mac/Linux, as well as iOS/Android, and Nintendo Switch. My estimated release date is currently late 2022 (?), but well...you all know how release dates can be for game projects [knocks on wood]. I've just recently published the steam page for the game, so I'd really appreciate it if you would check it out, wishlist, and share with anyone else who you think might be interested! If you're interested in following along with the development of the game, you can check out the devlog on Medium. You can also follow along on Twitter, or join the Discord server to get notified whenever a new devlog article comes out. I also have an official website for the game.

SynaMax's "remixes" were essentially re-creations of music from Metroid Prime, going as far as using the same hardware as Kenji Yamamoto. AFAIK, he wasn't doing the same type of interpretive, from-scratch arrangements that we do here. That may have factored into Nintendo's decision to contact him specifically. I haven't seen any instance of Nintendo contacting any other artist, so it's hard to agree with "Nintendo is going after remixes now." There's always the danger of a company like Nintendo coming down hard on fan communities. If Nintendo issues takedowns to us, then we'll have to figure out what to do when that happens. OCR very specifically doesn't allow submissions that sample the original game audio, but that might not mean much to Nintendo's legal team. There's an argument for Fair Use, but that's a legal defense that you present to a judge or jury, not a response you give to a Cease & Desist. As far as being concerned about being able to listen: once something is posted to the internet, it never truly leaves the internet. There are remixes that have been removed from this site that you can still download at various places. Nintendo has issued C&Ds against things like AM2R (the incredible Metroid 2 fan-remake) and you can absolutely still find those projects without too much effort. If Nintendo wants to play legal whack-a-mole, that's on them. When it comes to the music you'd like to remix and arrange: do what you want. Remix the hell out of Mario and Metroid and Zelda and Kirby if those are the soundtracks that inspire you. Even if the worst happens and we can't feature them on OCR anymore, that shouldn't stop you from making something.

Hey everyone! Director of Arcadia Legends and the soon-to-be-released album for Jet Force Gemini: Mizar Attacks here! I've been approached to potentially take over direction of this album, possibly co-directed with another. However, nothing is set in stone at all and I'm looking to see what all has been done, what is left to go, what the full scope of the project is and most importantly: Is there still interest for all involved currently and in the past to continue with this album to completion? I'm proceeding forward with Mizar Attacks album release and potential physical edition negotiations, but after that, I can turn my attention to this album - but I'm sending out feelers, if you will, to see if this is feasible to pick up and finish. Let me know!

Hello OCR! We have a very special remix contest happening this month over at dwellingofduels.net, involving crossover with OCRemix for the upcoming Final Fantasy III [NES] album! All entries for this month are encouraged to be submitted to OCR after the voting phase for consideration on this album, and will be fast-tracked through the OCR judging process! Any song from the FF3 soundtrack is allowed (note: this is the Japanese release of FF3 on NES, NOT the game known as FF3 in America which was for SNES). There are a few songs that are more 'preferable' from the soundtrack and do not currently have representation on the album: Crystal Cave Battle theme Crystal Room Opening Theme Return of the Warrior The Way to the Top Cute Little Tozas Sailing Enterprise Veggies of Geseal Castle of Hain The Requiem Swift Twist Good Ol' Fellows In the Covert Town Salonia Deep Under the Water The Invincible Forbidden Land The Dark Crystals What is Dwelling of Duels? Dwelling of Duels is a monthly VGM cover competition. Competitors submit redone versions of game music and the entries are voted upon by the community. Entries must comply with the rules, briefly put as following: The song must follow the current month's theme The song must be previously unreleased The song must not be shorter than 2 minutes The main instrument must be played live Check out our full rules page for more info on how to enter! Deadline for submissions is September 28 at 06:00 PM Eastern.

I hate to double-post myself, but there is some big news regarding album development. This album trilogy has had a history of collaborating with the Dwelling of Duels, and so, September 2020 is the OC ReMix Crossover FF3 Month! If you main a live instrument, go check it out - if you take part and you decide to send it to OCR's submissions queue, the evaluation will get fast-tracked. Any track from the game can be chosen, though there are still some uncovered spots on the OST (including some not even listed in the OP) that would be nice to have some representation. Talking of which - during this past month, @bluelighterhas made claims on not one, but two tracks! He has finished his take on "Crystal Tower" (with added usage for Tower of Owen), and is wrapping up an arrangement of "Ancient's Village" at this current moment. I am delighted to have a talented classical-inspired arranger jump in! If you're a potentially interested arranger, you're more than welcome to send a PM to me here on the forums or in the OCR Discord if you'd like to make a claim yourself outside of the DoD event. I wish all participants there the best of luck, and hype for some great tunes! x)

With Golden Sun out of the way, it's Badass 4, Lufia 2, & FF3.... hoping we can get the last mile on this one, will be talking w/ @Gario

OC ReMix presents Golden Sun: A World Reignited! June 30, 2020 Contact: press@ocremix.org FAIRFAX, VA... OverClocked ReMix today released its 74th free community arrangement album, Golden Sun: A World Reignited. Featuring 37 tracks from 42 musicians, A World Reignited pays tribute to Nintendo's classic Game Boy Advance RPGs Golden Sun and Golden Sun: The Lost Age, and is led by first-time director Logan "TSori" Thomas. The album is available for free download at https://reignited.ocremix.org. A World Reignited assembles a large lineup of musicians interpreting Motoi Sakuraba's scores in a variety of styles across 2 1/2 hours of creative arrangements. A World Reignited was made by fans, for fans, and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Camelot or Nintendo; all images, characters, and original compositions are copyright their respective owners. With nearly 10 long years gone by since the last release from the Golden Sun franchise, A World Reignited allows fans of the series the opportunity to revisit and rekindle their memories exploring the world of Weyard through music with a heavy emphasis on live instruments. "This story of discovery, exotic locales, forgotten histories, hidden motivations, heroism, and desperation was beautifully embodied in Motoi Sakuraba's incredible soundtrack," noted album director Logan Thomas in appealing to the original games. "Take a new journey from the slopes of Mount Aleph to the shores of the Karagol Sea, from the depths of Madra Catacombs to the tops of the monolithic elemental lighthouses." The album's artwork -- a beautiful collage of the lighthouses of both GBA titles -- was designed by French illustrator Mikaël "Orioto" Aguirre, already well-known for his lush landscapes inspired by the Golden Sun series as well as other gaming classics. "Every single person involved went above and beyond what was expected," Thomas added. "The quality of this album and the rapidity with which it has been completed is a direct result of the talent and unyielding dedication of everyone involved." 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. OC ReMix operates under the umbrella and sponsorship of Game Music Initiative, Inc, a 501c3 non-profit charitable organization (EIN: 81-4140676). ### Preview it: http://youtu.be/UaCwTIiuQ9A Download it: https://reignited.ocremix.org Torrent: http://bt.ocremix.org/torrents/Golden_Sun_-_A_World_Reignited.torrent Comments/Reviews: http://ocremix.org/community/topic/49550/

Trailer time!

OC ReMix presents Paths Less Travelled: Terranigma! December 19, 2019 Contact: press@ocremix.org FAIRFAX, VA... OverClocked ReMix today released its 72nd free community arrangement album, Paths Less Travelled: Terranigma. Featuring 31 tracks from 61 artists, Paths Less Travelled: Terranigma celebrates both the soundtrack and today's 23rd anniversary of Terranigma's European Super Nintendo release, and is directed by Jorrith "Jorito" Schaap and Troy "Trism" Plain. The album is available for free download at https://terranigma.ocremix.org. This 3-disc release features a deep roster of musicians interpreting Miyoko Takaoka and Masanori Hikichi's atypical and thought-provoking RPG score with more than 2 hours of arrangements. Paths Less Travelled: Terranigma was made by fans, for fans, and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Quintet, Kamui Fujiwara, or Square Enix; all images, characters, and original compositions are copyright their respective owners. "This has been quite the experience," album co-director Troy Plain affirmed. "Three years and one hiatus in the making and it's finally here. I really hope you, the listener, enjoy this smorgasbord of different genres and interpretations of some truly amazing source music. Now; what to choose for Paths Less Travelled vol. 2..." Terranigma represents the inaugural album of OCR's new Paths Less Travelled series, an endeavor that will focus on the soundtracks of overlooked and lesser-known RPGs. The Paths Less Travelled concept was initially developed by the album's visual artist, the UK-based David "Odai" Owen, himself a veteran visual contributor in the OC ReMix community. "Every single contributor to the album has reflected stellar work on every track, and it proves to be a truly eclectic triple-album that pays homage to what I consider to be one of the very best unsung computer games of all time," declared Owen regarding the initial Paths Less Travelled installment. Paths Less Travelled: Terranigma also marks Jorrith Schaap's third directorial effort for OC ReMix, including 2017's Resonance of the Pure Land, an extensive musical tribute to Hiroki Kikuta's score for the popular and recently remade SNES RPG Secret of Mana. Having contributed multiple pieces to OCR's 2018 album Hometown Heroes: Town Themes Arranged -- including entries from the Suikoden, Legend of Heroes, and Dragon Slayer series -- Jorito is also no stranger to arranging music from more obscure RPGs like Terranigma. "After finally playing the game, the tracks, and their context, make a lot of sense, because they are all very well chosen and perfectly crafted for the occasion," explained album co-director Schaap. "The game is definitely worth a play, as one of the great SNES RPGs; if you haven't done so, do check it out." 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. OC ReMix operates under the umbrella and sponsorship of Game Music Initiative, Inc, a 501c3 non-profit charitable organization (EIN: 81-4140676). ### Preview it: https://youtu.be/b9dPugNPNig Download it: https://terranigma.ocremix.org Torrent: https://bt.ocremix.org/torrents/Paths_Less_Travelled_-_Terranigma.torrent Comments/Reviews: https://ocremix.org/community/topic/48971/

This round is another hard one to vote! Both teams brought forth polished mixes and executed really creative ideas. Infected Waters: Psytrance heaven! The gated vocal, triplet transitions, and distinct sections make this a wonderful listen. The Bloody Tears motif from Purification comes through strongly even with the syncopated line, and the Maridia theme holds tightly throughout the piece. Pure Zebes: Enya vibes proudly on display! Despite having zero melodic correlation to it, this piece would feel right at home in RuneScape - I’m attributing that to the instrumentation (flutes and strings and pads over light percussion). Both themes are strong throughout; the 3/4 meter helps bring both ideas together. Livin' Out Our Last Days: It's Metroidvania but if the Gorillaz did it! I love nothing more in a mashup than taking the structure of one piece and applying the melodic and harmonic content of another to it, and this track does exactly that - Feel Good, Inc is clearly the template here. I'm hearing Overture in the "theme"/verse riff and Tallon in the choruses. The organic instruments (guitars, bass, and vocals) are well performed, and the mix is tight. Cruisin' Down Overture Blvd in the Depths of Tallon Traffic: Synthwave magic! That Tallon bassline rides through the whole piece and never once gets stale. Love the way the melody trades Overtune and Tallon back and forth, and the little chromatic splashes here and there keep the lead interesting. Smoke and Marbles: Live jazz club sound! Great mix on the quartet throughout - the lead trade between piano and guitar on the Marble Gallery theme is brilliant. Bass and drums hold the groove tight. Environmental Mystery as the bridge is another brilliant choice for such a short source. Gallery of Mysteries: Progressive metal time! Periphery and Tigran Hamasyan meet a sort of Darude vibe on the intro. Lots of time signature shifts for those wanting to count - 4/4, 5/8, 7/8, 5/16... math music nerds, get in the comments! Love the use of Environmental Mystery as the arp throughout the piece. --- Great job everyone! As with round 1, I can't wait to see these pass the panel!

So I wanted to take a moment to say a few things. First, I want to thank everyone, all of the fans, all of the artists who've contributed to the albums over the years; you have my heartfelt gratitude and it has been an honor to help keep this album series going all these years. Secondly, about the updated site; part of the reason for the update is that I'm learning frontend development, well trying to at any rate, that said a site update has been long overdue. Going forward all of the albums will be on the main page, and they will be chronologically newest to oldest. This means no more clicking around to each volume to grab the albums you want. You can do that from the home page. This also has made my life easier and increased the speed at which I can get everything done and posted. I think I just spent about 20 minutes adding all the information onto the site itself, testing it, and then uploading it all to the server. I used to have to go to each and every page to update navigation and that was a very time consuming task. So, there's that. I've also long wanted to change the color scheme. Initially, I was going to stick with green because I love the color, but also because it featured on the original version of the site. I decided to mix it up a bit and go with a blue color scheme, and I think it's a lot nicer. The Coop should be adding the link to the site to the top of this thread soon-ish. That said, for now, I'll post the link here: https://williammichael.info/aocc Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all! Enjoy volume 17!

Just started my PRC entry today and had quick progress already. It won't be great but it's a source I personally love and a style I think I can manage well with by myself without anyone's help, so that feels somewhat good and fun to work with. Maybe a bit outdated in terms of sound and production, but maybe because of that it'll help bringing a more 2000s music forums vibe that somewhat fits the nostalgia for those of you who kept submitting for decades

Done working on mine. Cheers to everyone already done, and keep at it those of you want to finish.

(EDIT...I hit enter too soon LOL) Sounds fair. Sucks it has to be this way, but the compo scene was definitely in a downturn since probably as far back as 2014, though there were some definite upticks here and there. I'll defer to your decision with MnP, TVG. As for PRC, it has been a wild ride and some seriously good times and kick-ass remixes. Thanks for being such an awesome host @Bundeslang (EDIT 2) I'd like to add that you were very patient with the more difficult participants (myself included, at times). You've shown nothing but class and aimed to keep the experience a positive one, despite the BS that came your way from time to time lol. You are a true gentleman and scholar Bundeslang. Pardon the 2nd edit, I am having a hard time gathering my thoughts and overcoming my anxiety all at once lol. I was planning on just coasting along and doing nothing for the rest of the year, but that will have to change, considering the situation... I'd be remiss not to add an entry. Hopefully Bundeslang will be joining in for the fun too!

Hi everyone, I haven't been here for a while. I only recently found out about DJ Redlight (Ashley Carr) passing away in 2016. Some people might remember his remixes on here and his original music and have a special place in their memories for him. Ashley lived in Perth, Western Australia, which also happens to be where I live. So I took a trip today to the Memorial Park where he is buried and photographed his memorial plaque. I played some of his music at the site as well and sat with him for a bit. If you aren't familiar with Ashley or his music, I recommend visiting his website https://www.djredlight.com and OC ReMix profile https://ocremix.org/artist/4593/dj-redlight and having a listen. He was a talented artist and it really sucks that he died so young. If anyone would like to see his final resting spot, his profile is here along with the photograph I took. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/213280977/ashley-dean-carr Rest in Peace, Ashley Carr.

Great album, honored to be a part of it!

You too bauss! Merry XMas

Great work everyone! Wishing you all the best for 2022

You know, I almost entirely forgot about this. It's...it's been a long year. That said, I'll be ready to build the new page and update the site. Though, to be honest, it's really time to update the design, too. I've been rather lax with it. Maybe I'll add a sidebar. Maybe not... Anyway, It'll be fun to post the project again this year. I'm looking forward to it.

I have to go to work and I don't want to delay things any further. I also want to look at my results and feedback so I need to post this now haha. Just consider me disqualified! Good job to everyone this round. You guys really put something special up 1st. Waiting for the Pounce - The Voudou Queen Haha, what a start to the track! I am always enamored by those who can sample quotes and lines from things and add them into music. It's not a skill I have or something currently used in my minds eye. I'm honestly not personally keen on the musicality of the opening part but that's really 100% a personal preference thing. I appreciate the heck out of it But once it gets into the groove of things. Yo... This is an actual Halloween party vibe. Like there is some real good melodic stuff going on and the chords are really effective. I think sometimes I want more. Like right before the last section there is some real fun and groovy chord progressions. Id love if it was expanded, had some like keyboard solos (like just runs and such) and maybe with some vibrato added in there just for funs sake. Like it's a whole groove and I think if it was dug into, I could dance all night long! The last section is very effective at what it does, like the first I think I am not one to comment too deeply because it's not my vibe but I do appreciate it and think it works. All and all, I really really think this was a great effort. You should be proud of what came out of it. I only wish the middle was expanded on, there were some more fun chord progressions, and maybe some more playful dynamics as well. Great job! 2nd. Aeterni Inferni - Wassup Thunder Oooh that low synth hits really well. I'm enjoying it. The effects are really interesting as well. There was a modulation in the middle of the song and I'm not familiar with the source so I'm unsure if you added it or not (edit: seems like it's there in the original too) but I actually dig it. Personally I think I would have gone for a major modulation or at least something brighter like a minor 7th but that's my taste. I enjoy the building of this overall. It's like I get to enjoy something new every few bars or so. It's always adding something. I think I wished for some more impact here and there but I think that's okay. Really I think what it needs was some shift in dynamics here and there. Something I struggle with when making music. The ending climax was very welcome though. That ending little effect there too! This really captured Halloween for me. I only wish that it had some more play with the sound field to really give the ears a treat (or a trick!) 3rd. Rites of Autumn - Colorado Weeks Oh what is this? Now that's some spooky crap. There is like some kind of odd polyphony going on here. Almost like two different keys are being played it. Like it seems consonant but there is also something highly dissonant about this. I cannot put my finger on it. I think it's a bit too short or not expansive enough but I do think it was effective at being both spooky but somehow... Celebratory? It is the rites of autumn I suppose so it should have that celebratory feel. However whatever they are celebrating is spooky as all hell! I'm creeped out and I think that's a good thing. Good job here haha. I only wish that there was some more variety or another section to explore these rites! Very curious indeed 4th. That Desolate Field - Souperion o___o;;; lord you guys are creeping me out haha. This is really reflective of something you'd hear in one of the Ghost in the Shell movies. Have you ever heard of any of them? I think you'd find some interesting inspiration there. The middle was a bit surprising with the shakuhachi. Like I knew there would be one but it caught me off guard. Here I think the problem for me is the song from a listening standpoint is a bit long. If this was for a scene for a movie I think this would fit but somehow for me it goes on a bit too long without offering much new as it continues to go. Overall though it is certainly interesting. You can send your sister this message from me! 俳句を読んでくれて、ありがとうございます！お兄さんの作曲に不思議な雰囲気を加えました！ 5th. What Lurks Below - Kat I really wish I got to hear a more complete version of this.. It has a lot of interesting things that I'd like to get to know how to do personally or at the very least to identify the sound. I think it has this sort of clown or carnival kind of feel without being silly. Like it's not exactly scary but a bit unnerving. I'm unsure how to put it exactly. I think the guitars are really good here. The mixing seems to be a bit uhh chunky but I think it's because of how I'm listening to it and less so the mix itself. Still I think it could use some breath. Overall, this is good but I wish there was more! 6th. Austrian Spinal - General Grunt Oh lord. A polka? Hahaha, I can't say... It's my thing. But I think it does the polka well. It's a bit too little in terms of expansion is concerned and doesn't have enough to really keep my head in it, but I think what you went for you were successful in getting. Again, uhh, not a polka fan but it did right by the polka lol. I think though if it had more layers and some polyphony it could go beyond even polka lovers and into something even the polka haters would love. Darn those polka haters! 7th. The Mandela Effect - APZX Hm.. I think it's just too much here. I believe in your story and your vision. I think what you wanted to do was accomplished but it's a lot to ask for the listener and a lot to take in. That's not always a big deal to me. One of my favorite songs is a 50 minute mix of different tracks and vibes of 80s Japan. I think here however from a listening perspective it really wasn't effective for enjoying. However, I think as a piece of art, I'd disagree with myself. You really set it apart by not only length but the depth and effort for you to put in. For that, I have to applaud you. Still, I don't think it was... A great choice for the competition given the meat n potatoes aspect and from a personal listening perspective it isn't my thing. But, props to you for creating something special. Take a bow!

The People's Remix Competition 433 PRCv18-13 Hello everyone and Welcome to the People's Remix Competition! In PRC431 it was Wassup Thunder who was the winner. Souperion and TheVodouQueen also particpated. Source: Final Fantasy Tactics Advance (GBA) - Undefeated Heart https://compo.thasauce.net/files/materials/PRC433_FFTA Undefeated Heart.mid https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Final_Fantasy_Tactics_Advance https://compo.thasauce.net/rounds/view/PRC433 The deadline is Wednesday September 29th 2021 at 10:59 am ThaSauce time (18:00 UTC, 19:00 GMT), check the link https://compo.thasauce.net/rounds/view/PRC433 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. The winner of this round may select the source for PRC434. Wassup Thunder can enter with a bonus song and has a double vote. You can find the full rules list at this page as well. GOOD LUCK! PRC Home Page

I made it!

If I'm being honest I'm already hating myself for trying it, but I will admit that I'm actually having a lot of fun with it lol Edit - This will simultaneously be one of the most MnP things I have ever done, but at the same time not.

I have a terrible idea, and I'm probably going to hate myself for even trying it, but it must be done...

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!

Big Update!! I am going to be taking a break from MnP and am working to delegate all responsibilities to @TheVideoGamer and to a lesser extend @Bundeslang. I will be on standby for emergencies. [Wtf was I on??] Though I aim to spend less time at OCR, as I love the community, but I don't like how high the Quality Bar is and feel that the Judge Panel could step it down a notch for the less skilled hobbyists. Also this blinding white light of the forum Theme is really bad for my eyes. Being near-sighted (yeah, I use glasses...but I might be at risk for Glaucoma) and with constant Allergy problems, it's just not good for me lol. [Clearly, I was conflating the issue here. Some of it is true, but...I was dancing around the crux of the matter. Most likely, it is background noise to other issues I am dealing with. Double apology there.] [More Apropos] I have come to realize that I am poor at handling stressful situations and I lost my cool, to say the least, with one of our participants. I don't want this to be a pattern and I need to get back on counseling and healthier self-care routines. It sucks, but it is what it is. Said individual told me they've forgiven me. However, I still don't feel good about it. I have thoroughly enjoyed hosting MnP and being a huge part of the Compo Community. Wish the best to you guys

It's results time. It's a bit confusing with the multiple entries, but here are the results: HoboKa did not one, but two bonus mixes. AxLR did a good song which deserved more, but it got the last place wooden spoon Several songs ended with 3 points and eight place, some by voting, some by score: Bundeslang - Nirvana - Sifting, Bundeslang - Quitting At Level 8, Silverpool64, Trism and TheVodouQueen - Halycyon Hare Stage. TheVodouQueen - Catamitus Exultant Lusibus and Evktalo tie for sixth place with 4 points. Bundeslang - Snakemania got 5 points and fifth place. Brainstar got 7 points and fourth place. TheVideoGamer did a long one, it got 11 points and third place Wassup Thunder and Souperion were close, their song received 15 points and the second place And the winner of PRC419 is with TheVodouQueen - The Rain Won't Stop The Beat (Japan Disco-Funk Mix) with 17 points. Hopefully I didn't make any calculation errors, but since I only needed to add the voting bonus, I'm pretty sure it's correct. TheVodouQueen wins the round and gets the right to select a source for PRC421. Send the source to me (with a MID/MP3 file, otherwise send a second source with a MID file) by PM, other options are PM me @ ThaSauce or by e-mailing to bambombim@gmail.com (I prefer a PM @Ocremix). Send your sources as fast as you can, but before next Wednesday (27 January 2021), 11:00 AM ThaSauce time (18:00 UTC, 19:00 GMT). You may select any source from any game, but not a source with an OverClocked remix or a source which has been used in PRC before. An overview of the past PRC's can be found in the following links (I recently updated this site): http://sites.google.com/site/bambombim/prc http://bambombim.googlepages.com/PRCRemixList.doc (also downloadable via the link above). http://compo.thasauce.net/rounds/view/PRC419 for the votes and comments. TheVideoGamer, you still may pick a source as well, as winner of PRC418.

Check the first page for a new (and probably second to last) update. Its time to build some pre-release hype!

Well holy shit balls, Batman. It's that time once again! Time to start thinking about Christmas as the temps climb to 100ºF+ around the country and people wax nostalgic about when it was cold, while forgetting all the bitching they did regarding how cold it was. The snow, the ice, the wishing it was warm again... you know, the usual mid-January stuff. And it's in that spirit... sort of... that we take our first step in getting this year's project underway. SO! This project is open to any and all OCR members, regardless of whether you're a posted remixer or not. And now, the details... When's The Project Deadline?- December 20th, 2019 at 11:59 P.M. EST. This is now a REALLY hard, non-negotiable deadline, since it's very close to Christmas. We've had lots of last-minute entries and updates over the years and, to be perfectly honest, it shouldn't be that way. With months of time, having to hold off as long as possible for people made things pretty hectic for myself and Dyne in the past. Treating this project like a college paper that doesn't get worked on until the last minute got annoying rather quickly when it kept adding up to lots of hurrying year after year, with last second updates to artwork and retagging/reuploading things. As such, you have until one minute before midnight EST on December 20th to get me the final WAV or MP3 of your song. After that, you're shit outta luck until next year. I need time to do everything, including possibly making a little website to host this project if Dyne isn't online for one reason or another. So this deadline's set in stone... PERIOD. What Information Does The Coop Need?- When you send me your final versions, I'll need what name you want to use (real or remixer handle) and the name of your remix. Please, come up with something when you send me links to the file, rather than just giving me a file called "ff6-owa-v3f.mp3" and nothing else. You don't have to tell me what song you're remixing, but I do need a name. Plus, if you have a website you'd like to pimp, supply that as well and I can add it to the MP3 tags. What Can Be Remixed?- Any song, really. Traditional Christmas carols, video game music, published music by a signed artist, music from TV/cartoons/anime... whatever gets your heart racing and into that Christmas spirit. This isn't an official OCR album, so you can draw from more sources than just VGM. Plus, you can take a non-Christmas tune, like the Main Theme from Space Harrier, Stage 6 Mission 2 from Metal Head, or I Defend STM from Truxton II, and turn it into a Christmasy one. So know that it's not limited only to songs that are Christmas-like to begin with. All that said, do keep in mind that if you want to submit your song to OCR later, you'll need to keep this site's guidelines in the back of your mind. But for this album, you can take it in just about any direction you want and get as crazy as you'd like (but please, no "Silver Bells" done in farts or something). How Long Can My Song Be?- As long as you want it to be. There are no restrictions on this, so whether it's 1:30, or 9:51 with a five minute guitar solo ala Metallica, it's all good. But again, if you want to submit your song to OCR later, keep their guidelines in mind. What Genres Can I Remix In?- Again, the door's wide open here. Rap, Metal, Pop, Piano-solo, Orchestral, Jazz, 8/16-bit, Barber Shop Quartet, A capella, Death Polka... it's up to you where you want to take it. What Format Should I Submit My Song In?- WAV or an MP3 of at least 192KB/s quality. I'll be tagging the MP3s and making MP3s from any submitted wavs, so you don't have to worry about that. But, if you'd like your website to be in the MP3 comments section, be sure to give it to me when you submit your song. How About A Little Music To Get Us In The Mood?- To help everyone along, here's a YouTube list of Christmasy tunes made by Ocre a number of years ago... https://ocremix.org/community/topic/32727-an-overclocked-christmas-~-now-recruiting/?tab=comments#comment-676914 What's The Website's Address Again?- It's got a new home at... http://williammichael.info/aocc/ This album will still be downloaded there as well, as Dyne will continue to host the albums on his site. How Do We Contact This The Coop Person?- If you've got questions, comments, concerns, want feedback, or your track is done and ready to be sent to me, you can PM me here on OCR, or send me an E-mail at thecoopscorner@gmail.com. Just be sure you remember to include a link to your remix. So yeah, there you go. You've got over five months to get something done for the lovely people of OverClocked Remix and the billions of listeners around the world who've become followers of our project. Good luck, have fun and make everyone some Nice Work™! Artists involved thus far... The Coop (director, cover artist and remixer) Lampje4life (remixer) TheChargingRhino (remixer) PlanarianHugger (remixer) Seth Skoda (remixer) HoboKa (remixer) Pinksou (remixer) Souperion w/Wassup Thunder (remixer)

And... The vision of the site has always been to have a big enough tent for both; we could have fewer headaches, and probably more followers, if we stuck to popular games, or genres, or gave flagrantly disproportionate emphasis to either, but then I'd have to punch myself in the head every day and die w/ regrets, etc.

I have read the comments on the youtube, and one comment really stuck out to me that I think explains why it is so divisive, mainly relating to the philosophy of creating new arrangements of video game music. The comment, let me find it: So this is probably the largest difference in the way I process game music vs how I think others do, mainly in the general public who do not produce music actively (casual listeners). This isn't a right vs. wrong issue, this is really more of a perception and philosophy difference/disagreement. This is healthy and should happen in any community that isn't toxic. For the most part, game music for me is divorced from the game it comes from. I have been told on some of my previous work (back before I had an internet presence) that "this doesn't sound like a battle theme" or similar comments. At one point I did a stripper tempo swing version of Megalovania from Undertale. It went really slow, just to play up the sleaze. For the most part, it was *destroyed* by people who heard it, almost like I committed blasphemy. OCR is full of creative arrangements, but the whole line is accessibility. For the most part, if you did a calm, ending theme as an upbeat 80s synthwave track, nobody would really complain about it because they can relate to the style. Something much more classically oriented that's out of left field like this doesn't really give much to relate to (unless you listen to a lot of music in this style). It is kind of like listening to some avant-garde jazz and not enjoying it because you don't really listen to a lot of it and don't really "get" its nuance (I am like this with most of the more distant subgenres of metal, for example). When I do arrangements of game music, almost always I'm trying to do one of two things, and you can hear this from the things posted on this site. 1. Have some fun with a tune I really enjoy or remember fondly, combined with writing some fun stuff to play (Cazador, Journey Never Ends, unrelated but everything I do for Materia Collective falls under this category). This usually ends up being very relatable for most people. 2. Experiment and really push myself in something I'm not familiar with, or explore a style of music I enjoy (Protoman, Reflecting Pool, As Blew the Winds). These are mainly used to develop my skills, and I really don't give much consideration to the audience or making it an way that it means anything outside of itself. This is where the disagreement lies. So in the most sincere way possible, I REALLY don't care that the Mario fanbase wouldn't listen to this and be reminded of Mario. That wasn't the point. That wasn't even close to the point.

Yuuuup; gonna get moving on getting this into evaluation this weekend, so stay tuned, y'all!