Leaderboard

Starting today, the sharing of music generated by feeding a prompt into AI-software is prohibited on OC ReMix, both here on the forums and on our Discord. LLMs, AI, and other machine-learning technologies are both interesting and impressive, but the implementation of these technologies in popular usage rely largely on unethical training practices. Copyrighted works are used without artist consent to train commercial AI-models. Moreover, OverClocked ReMix has, over the course of over 20 years, established itself as a place for artists to learn about the composition and production of music and hone their craft. We ask artists to pay tribute to VGM through the art of interpretation; we're looking for the personal spin, the human touch. I, personally, don't believe audio generated by a machine-learning algorithm is doing that. There are ethical implementations of AI-technology in the music sphere, such as sample libraries, physical modeling software, and audio production suites that use machine-learning to perform complicated tasks that an artist can use in the production process. Sharing music that uses this kind of tech is absolutely fine. But tracks generated wholly or in-part by services like Suno and Udio (among others) do not belong here. And just to clarify, the discussion of machine-learning, LLMs, and AI here at OC ReMix is not prohibited, but should be tempered by an understanding of the goals of our community, which include artistic development and education and the appreciation of VGM through thoughtful exploration and interpretation. Thanks. -- DarkeSword

Hello, I'm sharing a wip for a remix of Tomorrow and Tomorrow after receiving live feedback on the OCremix discord. The goal was to mimic the style of Imagine Dragons (ie Warriors) Source from 0:00 - 1:05 of and below is a earlier wip to compare changes I've made (for better or worse)

Hey Xaleph, I think you've pulled some of my VSTs from the Discord server anyway, but here's a list of some stuff I use commonly: VST Instruments u-he's Zebra2, Hive, Diva. All the u-he synths are notable for having free versions with very limited paywall restrictions; the free versions don't limit settings at all, they just play static or randomize notes intermittently after 20 minutes of rendering/use. This can be worked around by reloading the instance, and it's obviously an easy workaround for final mixdown. FM8 by Native Instruments - goes on sale a lot FMDrive - very cheap Genesis/Mega Drive synth that can read the original instrument files Roland Sound Canvas - not free but essential for a lot of GBA/SNES type sounds. A lot of them make up GBA soundfonts unaltered; Golden Sun, Pokemon, etc. Sforzando and Samplelord are both worth bringing up as soundfont interfaces; the former is free and the latter can notably read some proprietary instrument files used in E-mu kits like the Proteus. Performance Samples has paid VSTs but also a lot of freebies; I use the strings and percussion a lot. They just require a certain version of Kontakt. VST FX Guitar Rig - I use Guitar Rig 5 specifically. Its amps/cabinets are really diverse and convincing and I use the reverb effects on pretty much everything. Convology XT has a free version with a lot of convolution reverb presets. I use them in conjunction with these Impulse Responses a lot to emulate how reverb effects were achieved on the PS1. EliteReducer 2 and CMT Bitcrusher are both free bitcrushers. MeldaProduction has a lot of versatile free FX; I use MCompressor for sidechaining and MVibrato for gated/tremolo effects. ToneBoosters has a lot of free legacy FX i.e. Barricade. Tokyo Dawn Records has some good free/paid FX like Kotelnikov; I use the paid version on my master bus pretty much all the time.

Oh man, you gotta add Famisynth to the list! Not only is it 8-bit heaven, it's 100% free. http://mu-station.chillout.jp/plugins/FAMISYNTH-II/index.html

I only now realized I got another wooden spoon to my proud collection in the final round

Not bad at all, you'll be hearing an update in here before the end of the month.

The opening doesn't stand apart from the original much, so I'm interested to hear how it branches out; this is just viewing it from the lens of OC ReMix's arrangement standards. The female vocals have more outward power & strength compared to the original song (not better or worse, just a slightly different tone). Loved the lead strings up until 2:00; nice richness to it. Acoustic strings at 2:13 also sounded nice. Piano at 2:27 was obviously sampled, but had reasonable body to it, even if it was too obvious it wasn't real; same critique for the strings at 2:42. The dynamics are there; you could argue this should be even more dynamic, but within a relatively narrower range of contrast, it definitely does its thing, especially with the beats arriving at 3:26 for the big finish. This have a nice added level of intensity & density to distinguish it from the original. Cool stuff! IMO, go ahead and submit this, Mellow Sonic! :-) https://ocremix.org/community/submissions/

I was going to give this an official name (something better than "Tools we use"), but I wanted to start a post that lists some VSTs (free and paid) that I know a good number of us use for mixing. This is not intended to be a clone of a list of all possible VSTs, or like 2 people in our community use it so we put it here. It's intended to be a place to find out what others use in our space that we find particularly useful. Just replying with a simple name of a product isn't good enough for me to put it on the list (for the reason I stated above) - though you can always respond with plugins you personally found among the most useful (or just most used in each song). I want to avoid this being a junk drawer that has no real value. The value will come with a curated list of tools that we feel are worthy. For a list of DAWs we use and to find performers of specific instruments, please visit https://ocremix.org/workshop or ask in our discord. Sage Recommended 1. Instruments 1.1 Drums Addictive Drums by xln audio ($159 || complete: $869) [drums] ML Drums by ML Sound Lab (free) [drums] Steven Slate Drums by steven slate drums (free || $119) [drums] toontrack EZDrummer ($179) [drums] Superior Drummer ($399) [drums] 1.2 Samplers Native Instruments Kontakt (player: free || regular: $299) [sampler] [instrument building tool] Heritage Percussion by Impact Soundworks (free) [sampler] [tribal percussion] Super Audio Cart by Impact Soundworks (gameboy: free || complete: $149) [sampler] [chiptune] Shreddage 3 by Impact Soundworks [sampler] [guitar] Free -> Precision (free) [bass] & Stratus (free) [electric guitar] Hydra ($149) [electric guitar] - this one is my favorite of the Shreddage Line Impact Soundworks collection has a lot of instruments difficult to find, such as the Oud ($99) Spectrasonics: Keyscape ($399) [sampler] [piano] Trillian ($299) [sampler] [synth] [bass] Spitfire Audio Spitfire Labs - free [sampler] [textures] [orchestral] [live instruments] Notable Lab Instruments: Arctic Swells, Astral Forms, Frozen Strings, Strings, Strings 2, Amplified Cello Quartet BBC Symphony Orchestra (free) [sampler] [orchestral] 1.3 Synths Native Instruments FM8 ($149) [fm synth] Massive X ($199) [wavetable synth] Reaktor ($199) [modular synth] Odin (free and open source) [semi-modular synth] Phase Plant by Kilohearts ($199) [semi-modular synth] Pigment by Arturia ($199) [wavetable synth] Serum by Xfer ($189) [wavetable synth] Spectrasonics: Omnipshere ($499) [hybrid synth] [wavetable synth] Trillian ($299) [sampler] [synth] [bass] Spire by Reveal Sounds ($189) [synth] Surge XT (free and open source) [hybrid synth] VCV Rack (free || pro: $149) [modular synth] Vital (free || pro $80 || subscribe $5/month) [wavetable synth] Zebralette (free) [spectral synth] 2. Effects Deelay by sixthsample (free) Guitar Rig by Native Instruments (player: free || pro: $199) Helix Native by Line 6 ($399) [guitar amp] illformed Effects: dBlue Glitch (free but may require jbridge) [glitch] [stutter] Glitch 2 ($59.95) [glitch] [stutter] iZotope: Stutter Edit ($199) [glitch] [stutter] Vinyl (free) [vinyl record] Kilohearts Essentials by Kilohearts (free) Slate Digital Fresh Air (free) [vintage exciter circuits and advanced dynamics processing] TH-U by Overloud ($269) Valhalla Effects: Super Massive (free) [reverb] Vintage ($50) [reverb] Delay ($50) [delay] Xfer: OTT (free) 3. Utilities FabFilter (Pro Q 3: $169) iZotope Utilities: Ozone (elements: $49 || standard: $199 || advanced: $399) RX (elements: $49 || standard: $299 || advanced: $799) SPAN by Voxengo (free) [eq analysis] TBProAudio ISOL8 (free) [Mix monitoring tool] Tokyo Dawn TDR NOVA (free || ge: €60) [equalizer] Kotelnikov (free || ge: €50) [wideband dynamics processor] Notes Native Instruments offers a starter pack with several of the recommended tools called Komplete Start (free) Free(ish) DAWs (https://bedroomproducersblog.com/2015/11/11/free-daw-software/ - he updates this regularly): Reaper Cakewalk Sibelius GarageBand Audacity (audio) Cheap Stuff / Sales Black Friday / Day after Christmas / Spring / Summer usually have sales Humble Bundle often has VSTs, sfx, and samples. Heavyvocity has some good textural tools (instruments & effects) Sample Packs: 99 Sounds’ (free) 99 Sounds’ two 99 Drum sample packs (free) To Add To Review SINE Player, Soundpaint, Musio Orchestral Tools, 8Dio NES VST

I figured I should share my Equipboard as well. DAWs Presonus Studio One 4 Ableton Live 10 Notable VST Instruments Adam Szabo Viper (Virus TI emulation) Arturia Analog Lab V Intro Decidedly DecentSampler (the VSTi is free, with free libraries available at their website and Pianobook) ML Drums by ML Sound Lab (Essentials, Luxe, Meld -- the free version is a stripped-down Essentials kit) NI Battery 4 NI Kontakt 6 and Kontakt Player 7 (Pianobook also has many free Kontakt libraries -- full version of Kontakt required for those) 8dio Claire English Horn The Alpine Project Ferrum Free Edition ISW Shreddage 3 (Precision Free, Stratus Free) ISW Heritage Percussion ProjectSAM The Free Orchestra Orchestral Tools Free Series (Layers) Orchestral Tools SINEfactory (Clutch, Crucible, Dynamo, Gearbox, Helix, Lucent, Manifold, Ratio, Rotary) Plugin Alliance x Brainworx bx_oberhausen Steven Slate Drums 5.5 Spitfire Audio LABS Spitfire Audio BBC Symphony Orchestra (Core -- Discover is free and covers all the basic articulations/techniques, and the top-level Pro version has more soloists and mic placement controls) Spitfire Audio Originals (Epic Strings, Epic Brass & Winds, Cinematic Percussion, Cimbalom, Media Toolkit) Toontrack Superior Drummer 2 Vital Notable VST Effects Arturia MiniFuse Bundle (this came with my interface) Arturia Chorus JUN-6 Arturia Delay TAPE-201 Arturia Pre 1973 Arturia Rev PLATE-140 Korneff Audio El Juan Limiter (a free emulation of the legendary L1 Limiter) NI Guitar Rig 6 LE (free with Komplete Start) NI Supercharger (also free with Komplete Start) Plugin Alliance Ampeg SVT-VR Classic Plugin Alliance Black Box Analog Design HG-2 Plugin Alliance x Brainworx bx_console Focusrite SC bx_masterdesk (Classic available for free in the PA FREE bundle) bx_opto bx_rockrack V3 (Player available for free in the PA FREE bundle -- only does presets) Plugin Alliance Maag Audio EQ2 Plugin Alliance PA FREE bx_cleansweep V2 bx_solo bx_subfilter Double MS Free Ranger niveau filter Tokyo Dawn Records TDR Nova UrsaDSP Lagrange (granular delay) Voxengo SPAN Notable Utilities Akai EWI-USB Evans x Sunhouse Hybrid Sensory Percussion v2 Presonus Notion 6

https://equipboard.com/xaleph if you want to know my gear DAWs Reason Studio Ableton Live Audacity Garage Band Notable VST/REs Objekt (Reason RE - paid) Serum Vital Kontakt (SAC, and others) Spitfire Labs Spitfire BBC Ugritone (Doom & something else?) Reason ( Kong / Radical Piano / Pangea / Klang / Mimic / Thor / Europa) Notable Effects Guitar Rig Pro Kilohearts Reason (Audiomatic / Scream / RV7000 Mk II / Echo / Pulveriser / Sweeper / Synch EM / Alligator) Notable Utilities Psyscope iZotope Ozone Advance / RX Musescore

I am a sucker for great vocal harmony and layering, and this remix has it in spades! This was superbly done, very excellent job for everyone who worked on this.

I really enjoyed some of the harmonizing in this remix. I am a big sucker for good vocal layering and this remix did that in spades! Very excellent remix. :).

The synhwave groove is very good. The percussion stands out as being especially good in this remix. Good stuff!

Hello everyone! As you are probably aware, on December 11, 2024, OCR will be turning 25 years old. And what better way to celebrate this than to do what the community is all about: collaboration. So, after running the idea past folks on the Discord, I've decided that we ought to get the ball rolling with a project while we are still over 11 months out. Namely, I want to put together an album that both looks forward and looks backward, that celebrates the 25 years that OCR has been around, acknowledges this time period in VGM and also promotes the ongoing growth of the community's musicians, new and old, younger and older. Therefore, I present the idea of TimeShift (working title). The premise of the album is simple: 1. Any ReMixer BORN BEFORE December 11, 1999 may contribute from sources that were RELEASED AFTER this date. 2. Any ReMixer BORN AFTER December 11, 1999 may contribute from sources that were RELEASED BEFORE this date. By doing this, I hope that the album challenges all ReMixers to look at sources that they might not necessarily be familiar with. In so doing, we can all stand to gain some fresh perspectives on sources (I had actually considered calling the album "ReFreshed Pixels" for this reason!). Further Rules 3. All new ReMixes. In other words, don't grab a ReMix you did that's already published on the site and add it to the album. This is as much about the challenge as it is the celebration of the time period. Have an unreleased WIP, even one you've shown off in the forums/Discord? Cool, it's valid. And yes, you can ReMix a source that's already been done. 4. One game, one claim. I don't want the album to filled with veterans' takes on Megalovania or City of Tears, and likewise we already have enough Corridors of Time and Terra's Theme for the younger crowd... Of course, don't let me stop you from being the one and only ReMixer who chooses Undertale or Hollow Knight, or Chrono Trigger or FF6! 5. Multiple sources are fine, but please ensure your main source comes from your valid time period. Adjudications may apply. 6. Release dates means original release. Cross-territory must use the first release date. For example, if a game was released in Japan in early 1999 but in North America in mid-2000, it goes to the younger ReMixer group since it's early 1999. No, just because a classic got a remaster 20+ years later does not qualify it for the veterans unless there's brand new musical material exclusive to that remaster. Adjudications may apply. Expansions (because they were a thing at the time of OCR's founding; remember those?) are valid if they contain brand new musical material exclusive to that expansion that wasn't in the original base game. This also applies if the original was released before OCR's founding but the expansion came out afterwards (making the expansion open to veterans). Adjudications may apply. 7. Typical quality standards apply. 8. The current final submission date (which is open to change) is September 11, 2024. Release date is the 25th anniversary: December 11, 2024. Suggestions We have a thread on the Discord where folks can post soundtracks that they can suggest for the album, especially from sources younger than OCR. It's not a requests thread, though: it's designed to get gears turning and ideas flowing. Roles Ah, now here's the tricky thing. I've been around the ridges on OCR for a very long time but it's only just recently that I've started to take a more active role in the community. I would certainly love the help of some experienced director(s), artists...heck, let's make this a full celebration and evoke the days of yore with a website too! Please let me know how you may be able to help me out here! And, of course, this wouldn't be an album without someone to make music to go onto it. I encourage every ReMixer who wants to take part to let me know! And if we can get some sleeping giants from the old days involved somehow, that would be absolutely fantastic. So that the album can get off the ground, I need expressions of interest from: Co-director Mastering Engineer Artist(s) (unless you want my poor art...) Website Designer (not as necessary, but preferred) Apart from expressions of interest, I am definitely open to comments, suggestions and feedback. How to Join Hit me up on the OCR Discord! Simple as that. Claims Tentative Sketches Cohesive WIP These games currently have WIP's and are closed for selection: Blue Reflection (2017) Vylent Chrono Trigger (1995) JSABlixer Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn (2013) & Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers (2019) Pixels & Paradiddles Final Fantasy XVI (2023) Xaleph Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light (1990) & Fire Emblem Gaiden (1992) JSABlixer Horizon Zero Dawn (2017) Mel Decision & Treyt LISA: The Painful (2014) 100%ROEMER SimCity 4 (2003) Dyluck Stardew Valley (2016) Moebius feat. Lucas Guimaraes ValiDate (2022) adrian gravitygauntlet All of the following claims are currently regarded as tentative until a WIP is received: Dark Souls III (2016) / Elden Ring (2022) / Bloodborne (2015) / Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (2019) / Demon's Souls (2009) - The Vodoú Queen Deep Rock Galactic (2020) OR One Step from Eden (2020) - colorado weeks (& Ridley Snipes?) Halo: Combat Evolved (2001) - adrian gravitygauntlet The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (2006) - Geoffrey Taucer Neon White (2022) - Michael Hudak Sands of Destruction (2008) - TSori The Witcher (series) (2007—) -sake_hime Let's not let this significant milestone in our community's history go past without acknowledgement or celebration. Let's do this!

Opening both the 2012 and 2024 versions side by side in an audio editor, you can tell from the waveform data alone how much extra effort had been poured into this remix for over a decade. Let's listen! On the prod aspect of things, I ran analysis with a Blackman-Harris function, both 128 and 512bins on linear and logarithmic scale, to positive results. Spectrum analysis didn't make me fall off my camel either, you've got nice stereo separation and likewise no alarming RMS. However I counted more than a 150 clipped samples throughout, which might be related to that enthusiastic -12.23db LUFS integrated with a 6LU loudness range (accounting for DC offset as well). Either slightly limit your master bus output just to be safe, or keep rocking the '0db sample peak' lifestyle. Up to you. Arrangement-wise, there's been massive improvements in texture, sound choices, dynamics and overall balance from your 2012 original, pioneering mashup. Melodies are less muted, the mix sounds clearer throughout and the soundscape is so much fuller now. Imho, your greatest success here is instilling new life and movement into the piece, making this revision much more engaging to listen to. Case in point the first section from 0:15 to 1:00, where the industrial percussions have increased in presence and intensity compared to the 2012 version. But conversely, the source's melody is also more prominent and distinct during that part, which creates an interesting contrast, rather than an irritating dichotomy. The second section from 1:15 has undergone a shocking transformation, where the melodic material used to timidly defer to the classic Roland drum kit, but is now emboldened and confidently riding shotgun with the rhythmic bed from 1:32 to 2:05, before the eerie, melancholic twist of the original remix metamorphoses into an array of decisive stabs complemented by surgical percussion hits, which now makes the 2:05-2:38 section hugely more climactic. As for the ending section from 2:40 onward, I applaud the pivotal choice to swap instruments for the lead which confers it an exotic yet contemporary quality, meshing beautifully with the thunderous drums in this dreamy yet tangible soundscape. There's a lot of subtlety and detail about this arrangement that people hopefully will notice and appreciate. Like in spite of the whole remix being centered around a repeating leitmotif and written with a singular sound palette, you can distinguish the theme associated with each source in relation to its time period and cultural inclination. Which to this day remains a testament to your ability as an arranger to assimilate material from different sources, then interpret them with both cohesiveness and distinction. I can still revell in the care that went into creating this ambient/industrial tribute with delightful Deus Ex influences, yet I also realize that such flavor might not suit everyone's tastes, and might be looked down upon in some leet circles... In any case, it's wonderful to see you revisit and reinvigorate this old work in such an elegant fashion, so many years later. I can only commend your diligence and consistency in the pursuit of this ideal, in the spirit of Ryu Hayabusa. May this labour of love capture the judges' hearts and ears, just as it captured mine back on Game Duels. This truly made my day, thanks for sharing this Eino.

JUM jiggity JUM jiggity. You really feel the triplet meter in this one. I enjoyed the bass in this a lot. Great energy and remix overall! Props to you!

This one definitely caught me off guard. I had to really listen to try and decipher what was happening most of the time. Definitely felt very experimental, kudos for the creative decisions in this!

I knew I was in for a treat within the first 30 seconds. This was one of those storytelling remixes that is deeply cinematic and tells a whole story through audio alone. I was definitely not prepared for the ramp up around the 3 minute mark, but it was awesome! Kudos to all who worked on this, this was fantastic!

Those drums and orch hits were delightfully nostalgic and fun. This almost feels like an opening to a 90's show, ESPECIALLY when the vocals kicked in. This was a lot of fun!

We don’t want A.I. music: We don’t have a means of easily or accurately identifying A.I.-created music; if there are free services for that, let us know. The two “Red Brinstar” A.I. prompts that you linked as examples didn’t spit out any actual arrangements of that theme. Would have to try other VGM-related prompts to see how much of a threat they are.

Oshit it's dj carbunk1e! I had your tales of phantasia thor remix on repeat on my summer workout playlist some 20 years ago, haha. Good stuff! The idea of this track is that someone wakes up to their alarm clock on turbo mode and they have a total mental breakdown from having to wake up to the same obnoxious sound every day of their wretched life so they can waste their existence grinding away at a soul sucking job. So today, they make a very rational decision to pull out a gun to shoot their clock but miss every shot and have to deal with the ear-splitting repercussions of their insomanical actions as the alarm clock continues to taunt them while they're half-deaf until they finally kill it with the final bullet (Inspired by the first release of the Turok comic but with a gun instead of an ax, lol). The main "synth" in my track is the 808 cowbell sample. I was really minimalist on this track and besides a sax synth most everything is just FL drumkit samples. Not sure how much more range I can get out of a cowbell but you were right in the comparison that it's lacking midrange umph. Maybe some more EQ with reverb could pull it off? Also, I doubt I tuned any of the drums. That's something I totally neglected. Thanks for the reminder. The extreme rapid panning on some of the samples is deliberate and I made automation pulse waves that more or less matched the waveforms of the samples that were panning to make the listener feel somewhat disoriented while the main track continued unchanged (gotta take any excuse I can get to deliberately screw with people cause that was the whole point of the original LISA game, lol). I don't think the main drums and percussion moves much in the stereo field though, I'll have to doublecheck. The idea for a rumble in the beginning is fire, I'll have to take your advice on that. Thanks for the inspiration! I've been living under a rock for the last decade and a half, so I don't have a discord let alone even know what it is but maybe I'll get with the times and check into it. Thanks again for the input!

This was the original above Below is the remix The original track has a lot of room to breathe, very specifically tuned drums to match the synth, and the synth has some mid/low EQ to really fill the space coupled with some noticeable reverb. What you've added, especially around 0:48/0:49 with the bass really grounds the song, making it feel a lot fuller. You'll need to make sure that the song feels full of energy and not just "busy" by adding a little more room for the melody to breathe. Additionally, I would tune the drums in the same keys that the original song is to get a similar effect/feel. Also - if you listen to my songs, I love panning drums - but make sure you're not over doing it. We want it to feel frantic and full of energy - we don't want it to just feel busy and cluttered. To do this, you can pick and choose what's panning, usually you'll want your drums to have relatively set panning locations maybe with the exception of closed hats (as you'll see often that there are 2 to 4 closed hats in this style music each with a preset pan to give the perception of movement, usually between 20L and 20R). I think having the synth pan is fine, especially if the percussion is grounded - again the goal is chaos while avoiding clutter. As a style recommendation, having a low end drum or rumble would really add a semblance of stability in the first 30 seconds to foreshadow your bass entering later. This way it kind of teases that it's more than just this tension you have built up in the beginning. If you want to jump in the #workshop discord channel - feel free to @ me (@Xaleph) if you want to share screens to go over any of this, would love to see this song in a finished state!

I really enjoyed that saxophone, very cool. I enjoyed this remix overall, it was very funky and drizzling with drip!

This is a solid bop! Great vocals and great production, I particularly like the drums on this. Stellar stuff

A lovely remix! Great vocals and vibe. I don't have much else to say other than: AWESOME job! :D

Thank you! It's an obscure game with an even more obscure soundtrack but you can find the full OST here: p.s. if you happen to find the original vinyl release of the soundtrack, be sure to buy it. It's worth it's weight in gold (no joke).

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

Pretty banger stuff going on here! That down-pitched tambourine-sounding cymbal at 1:27 works well in the drop. Any chance you have a link to the source for this one? Trying to find it for comparison and not having much luck. :)

Hello! I have been an OCRemix listener since around 2000 and my favorite shirt I have is my OCRemix hooded sweatshirt I got like a decade ago. I saw an ad for the OCRemix patreon when I was on the site tonight and went over to take a look. It looks like it hasn't been updated in five years when the Chronopolis album was about to come out. Are there any plans to revitalize it and start actively using it again? Personally, I'm more of a one time purchase kind of person, so if you do hooded sweatshirts or t-shirts again I'd be up for supporting that way. Thanks!

I felt like I was floating high above, drifting amongst a sea of digital clouds, reveling in the weightlessness due to the style and timbre of the synths. Let no artifice consume reality, unless that reality bears no meaning.

First off, thank you for formatting your post in the way that you did, it's very helpful to include the sources and timestamps like that. On to your bullet points, I'd like to talk about those. You're asking yourself the right questions, in the way to help be self-critical. Being self-critical is a very difficult skill to develop. So, asking these questions and thinking in this manner is a good place to start. On the first point, low quality instruments. You are correct, they are very low quality and sound very much like basic MIDI. This is most apparent in the guitars. Guitars are among the most difficult instrument to make sound realistic, especially when starting with basic sounds. The only things I could recommend would be to invest in some quality guitar samples (Impact Soundworks comes to mind on that, IE Shreddage), or search for a guitar player willing to work with you and record the parts. "Too much to my individual tastes". I'm not sure what you mean by this. Do you mean that your arrangement won't be liked by others because it's in your own style? Nonsense! Besides, you should be writing for yourself, and not for others (Unless you're getting paid to do it! :P) Don't worry about what others think, do it because it is fun to you or brings you joy. As far as the percussion, I can barely make it out because it's much quieter then everything else in the mix. If you think that it's repetitive, it likely is. Trust your instincts. Koi-iro Master Spark is only used for 24 of 162 seconds. I don't know how to call that too long, you really bounce from source to source so quickly that the listener is barely orienting themselves to a new section before it changes again. Look for other tracks/remixes/songs that you want your work to sound like, and try to emulate that. Listen to them side-by-side and note the differences, see what you can change to make your work sound more like the other ones. Experiment, and try new things. It is possible to learn and improve, it does take time and practice though. General thoughts on the track itself: 0:36 sounds like it may be a key change, and that change itself is not prepared so it feels sudden when it happens. This is in the source for Koi-iro Master Spark, maybe best not to use that part of the track due to the direct and sudden key change? Throughout the track there's a lot of muddiness and general imbalance of levels between the parts. I can't really make out what the bass is doing, and the drums are buried most of the time. The guitar parts and organ-like sound dominate most of the track. Let them work together to create cohesion and support between all parts. Generally in medleys the represented ideas usually are developed and not just hopped on for brief moments. With how quickly each source is visited in this, I get the impression of disjointedness rather then cohesion. I'd really suggest taking a step back and evaluating what you're going for and do that comparison to other tracks to get the production to a place where it needs to be, then go wild with the arrangement and making medleys.

Yooo i love to see aluminum back.