ella guro

Alright, me and my girl Splash Woman are gonna enter the ring. Hopefully I'll have the time/computer access next month edit: just as an aside, could you not use the name "adhesive boy"? My tentative remixer name now is "ella guru".

awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww congratulations guys!

So perhaps some context for this might be good. (Yes, this is AB. Like the name/sex change?) This was originally intended to be for an Earthbound project that was never finished. A few other mixes that were supposed to be for it made it here on OCR, I can't remember exactly which ones. Anyway, by the time I did this one I had just got to college and felt kind of like I was done with the community there was no reason for me to be doing remixes anymore for various reasons. But I had some left over WIPs and decided to finish this one up because the original tune is one of my favorite pieces of videogame music. I was pretty sure this was gonna be my last remix, so I decided to try some things that I wouldn't normally try. I intentionally made some sounds ugly and clash with other sounds, and there are a couple of places where there are two different things going on at once in different keys/time signatures, that kind of stuff. I was really into Captain Beefheart at the time, so that was part of it. Part of it was also wanting to do justice to the Earthbound soundtrack. It was fun to do all that stuff because I felt like I was really pushing myself into more unexplored territory, and I felt that it paid off for me. I came up with something that sounded unique, that I felt like no one else could have done. I didn't know if this would get rejected by the panel or not, but I decided that I had nothing to lose anyway so I submitted it and was happy to see it get on the site. ============================== Anyway, the point is this: my hope was that someone would hear this and be inspired to do something out there or experimental, in the mold of Shnabubula's early remixes or something like that. Or maybe not even that, maybe just get someone to think about trying a new approach. And I'm not talking about crazy time signatures or putting a whole lot of distortion on everything. Those are just ideas, and on the surface they don't add up to anything. I'm talking about creating a world. Different combinations of different ideas helps bring people into a different world. What I mean here is that my intention was never to show off compositionally. The point wasn't "hey guyz listen to my drumz". I was just trying something different. Trying to blur things together until all you can see is the overall picture, maybe even have some sort of emotional experience come out of it, rather than just see it as just a bunch of a little elements someone entered into a sequencer. I wasn't doing all this consciously. I don't think I realized what this and the kirby and donkey kong remixes on were about until way afterwards. I guess the point in the end was that I hoped to make something that existed in a world of its own: outside of me, outside of my sequencer, outside of my computer, and hopefully people would react to it in that way. So anyway...I think people are gonna like what they're gonna like. A lot of people don't like a lot of the choices made, so they're not gonna like this mix, simple as that. But I'm most proud of this one because I felt like I really did reach something this time. It's not perfect certainly, but I do feel proud that there is a mix like this on OCR...I just wish that more people were willing to try stuff like this. BTW, the ending is supposed to be a more optimistic epilogue to the darkness and disorientation of the mix. It's kind of an inverse of the kirby mix which was mostly happy but then ended with this kind of mysterious section that fades out at the end. I did think it was gonna be my last thing on OCR, after all, so I wanted to end it on a happier note. And it's Earthbound, fer godsakes. I don't really know how many people out there really try to think deeply about videogame remixes. I think a vast majority of remixers just do it for fun, and most listeners don't try to think that hard about why they like something, they just know what they like. Sometimes I think there's something wrong with me when I try to deconstruct stuff like this and give it a higher purpose. In the end I guess I really don't know what purpose remixes have beyond entertainment or nostalgia. My best guess is that maybe both games and game remixes (and by extension electronic music) are about creating worlds that have their own self-sustaining ecosystems. Earthbound certainly had its own unmistakable and strange little world. And with electronic music, maybe like Brian Eno did with Another Green World, though I never heard that album until a year or so ago. There are an infinite number of possibilities of sound that we will only ever barely scratch the surface of, so my view is that we might as well put them to some interesting use.

That's cause they ain't background music! They're "listenin'" music. This mix is great. I will try to edit with more thoughts later.

...but one I'm better for having taken I found OCR in 2002, when John Romero linked to it on his site. I was like "oh no not another one of these videogame midi sites" and then I realized what it actually was and my mind was totally BLOWN. I spent the ensuing months obsessing about OCR, making OCR mix cd's and having game music constantly going through my head. I had only ever done some midis and I didn't really have any musical equipment, so I thought there was no way I could make music sound as good as the mixes on the site. I thought it would take forever before I did anything decent. But then my first mix got two YES votes, and my second one was accepted and posted in January 2003 (both were made in MODplug with free soundfonts) so it didn't take long . My life has been different ever since. I realized that I could actually make music that sounded good and people liked it! The politics and other stuff really bogged me down a few years later, though, and made me lose sight of what interested me about OCR in the first place. I "quit" the community in late 2005/early 2006 partly for that reason, partly for other personal reasons, partly because I felt like people weren't really liking what I was doing anymore, and partly just because I was embarrassed to tell people that I liked videogame music. To anyone who finds themselves in a situation like I was in - if you really like or care about OCR or any other place like this and feel like you really want to make a difference, just try to make the most positive amount of difference with what you have the ability to make, and let the rest go. And also, sometimes it's good to quit for awhile and come back. Gives you a fresh perspective. I was wary about coming back to OCR because of my transitioning from male to female, among many other things. "Liz" is a "joke" account that I created in 2004 that turned out to not be a joke (in case I'm being too vague, adhesive_boy = me). It's weird when you have any sort of name recognition amongst people already, especially under an opposite gendered moniker. But I've talked to some friends in the community and went back and listened to some of my favorite soundtracks and found many reasons to be interested in videogame music again. So, once again... happy birthday, OCR! I look forward to the next 10 years.

Happy birthday, OCR! It's been a strange and interesting ride...

Great to hear about all this stuff, jake! I'm looking forward to using vgmix in the future, whatever form it's in. Congrats on the weight loss btw.

This review thread is maybe more epic than the mix itself. This is great, though. I've listened many times. The way it starts is probably the best part. When the intro builds and he says "HA!" and the drums and guitar just come in, the mix has a maximum level of potential energy behind it. It's like a rollercoaster ride where the intro leads you up to the highest point of the coaster, and then when everything comes in when you fall. I was like "THIS IS GUNNA BE FUCKIN' EPIC" when I heard that. Well, it isn't quite that epic. Not like multi-part prog rock epic. It's more of one groove that varies a lot. It's still a very good mix, don't get me wrong, just not as mind expanding as one would lead you to believe. It's more floating and breezy and less of an opus, if you catch my drift. But still really great stuff and it deserves the praise it's gotten.

I think this is a cool idea, and live judging with a mock vote would be very cool as well. I think it would be cool to at least do something to make the OCR panel a little more fun for those who are already well aware of what OCR does/have sat through a lot of panels before.

I'm gonna bump this thread for a remix that I think is innovative (not in a big huge "THIS WILL CHANGE MUSIC" way, but in its own little way): http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR01267/ I don't feel like having to go back and read through this thread right now, but I can list some artists that I think are innovative in their own ways later. One example I can think of right now is Captain Beefheart, especially his album "Trout Mask Replica". I think innovation is and should be gradual, though. The idea that you have to know the rules to be able to break them is also bullshit to me. I think that results in overly cerebral and awkward music most of the time.

Despite having played Final Doom, I don't recall any of the music. The synth and drum programming are both nice, and this is well produced. It could just be the source, but this isn't really holding my interest. It's nice, it sounds good. But I agree with what OA says about it being chord progressions without much ornamentation. TO sounds like he's being pretty clever with what source he has, there's just not a lot of substantive stuff to come back to.

I really liked this when I first came to the site for it being all wacky and crazy. Now I'm kinda split. It's a pretty basic arrangement at heart that heavily samples from the spc and some sound fx. I wouldn't call the placement of those fx and spc random, but I wouldn't call them well thought out either. On the other hand, it has a nice intense feeling to it, and the guitar and the sax are very cool. It pushes things to the silly extreme in a way that a lot of mixes don't, which I admire. And the ending makes me LOL. But I guess it hasn't aged as well. There are other remixes that do the "crazy" thing better, I think. But I can't deny that I still enjoy it, call it a guilty pleasure. I would like to see Mustin do a mix like this today, but he doesn't seem to do any of this kind of stuff anymore.

Bahamut has got this. Pretty much a straight cover, with maybe a few subtle additions (the drum track, some kind of distant bass). I don't think it's even that good of a cover, to be honest.

Honestly I'm only reviewing this because I think it's really funny that there's an old OCR mix called "Timeless". I don't really like this. I think it's kind of the opposite of timeless. The flute is pretty good, but everything else isn't too good. There's the same drumloop through most of the song that's just kind of there to be there, and the strings aren't well done at all. There isn't a whole lot of attention to how the instruments go together, they're just kind of stuck together. The arrangement is also repetitive and kind of uninteresting. Not much of note here to talk about really, cause it's pretty underwhelming to me.

The intro is so goofy. It's like Captain Falcon says "fuck it" and decides to burn one at the beginning of the race. Whenever I'd get to play a keyboard, I'd always just play the black keys and mess around. Most keyboards didn't have any sort of sustain or effect that you could put on them, so the sound was always kind of cheesy and dry. But at the same time it was comforting. I feel that way about a lot of this mix. Mutagene leaves some stuff really exposed and unprocessed here (especially that marimbaish sound that's panned hard right...or hard left maybe, I don't remember if my headphones are flipped or not haha). I don't even know if it was an intentional choice to do that or not, but I like it in a weird way because it makes me feel like I'm sitting there jamming on the keyboard. I don't think the drums are as well done here as they are in other mixes of his. They're kinda trebley and thin in places, and they aren't as groovy either. Even though I think the track is weaker than it could be, I still like this. There are some really neat delay effects, and the overall vibe is nice.

This is really cool. Mutagene was one of the unsung older mixers on OCR. He wasn't always on the mark, but when he was he had some really unique ideas. You could complain about the lead sounds being a little plain, but they don't bother me at all. The overall reggae/dub groove is really excellent and atmospheric. There's also some very nice rhythmic stuff going on. The section that first appears at around 1:11 and goes to 1:40 especially has kind of an uncomfortable, loose energy to it that's hard to describe but awesome. Really cool stuff, especially in a style that I wish we saw more of here. I'm gonna go back and check out some of mutagene's other mixes now.

I feel like I've just opened up a tracker and listened to a demo song that came with the program. The mix is pretty decent for early OCR stuff. The samples are obviously dated but there's a nice groove in some parts. Still it's not something I'd really listen to, and it's ultimately pretty forgettable for me.

I don't see what the big deal with the opening is - it sounds spooky and haunted, which is what the source tune is all about. And anyway, what's wrong with being odd? I've always liked this. It's a very simple arrangement, but very effective. The guitars are layered nicely. The slightly off-kilter sound works for making it feel like you're in some kind of forest at night and things are not quite right (hey that rhymes). There's not much to it, but what's there is quite good.

I like "Greater Alchemic Patchwork" but this one seems to have a lot more energy and inspiration behind it. I don't think it's just cause it's more accessible either, because I've heard both plenty of times (enough for that to be much less of an issue). The ideas seem to cohere a lot better and have more of what I call potential energy behind them - one kind of falls into the next, like each was meant to be there. It's takes great compositional skill to make things that wouldn't seem to fit at all fit together perfectly. And that's exactly what he does here. The production is about the same as "Greater Alchemic" but I think it becomes less of a bother because there's just more going on. I would've liked to hear less relying on drumloops cause it's very obvious that Israfel is capable of much more interesting percussion, but I get the impression that using drumloops was kind of deliberate here. Great stuff overall. I really wish Israfel was still involved with the community.

I've had this one for awhile, and it's grown on me a lot since I first heard it. I certainly wouldn't have made some of the creative choices Israfel made here, and I think the production could've used some work. On the other hand, this makes some really neat and interesting choices of how to interpret the original, stuff that most people wouldn't be crazy enough to do and try to make it work. I really admire what Israfel does, even when I feel like his ideas don't all gel, because he's willing to take a leap and do something no one else would be willing to do. I'm really glad this and his other work is on OCR, because it encourages me and hopefully other listeners to expand their horizons. I also don't to make it sound like I don't enjoy this or don't listen to it from time to time, cause I do. I remember reading something in post of his that pretty much sums everything up: "Why sound like everyone else?"

Quite a review thread here. This one ain't doin' it for me. Good ideas, but I feel like the mixing could use some work. I think some of the sounds are kinda thin and could be more well chosen, and I also think those damn orchestra hit violins are kinda mechanical and overused. I like some of Shael's other mixes too...I think here it just sounds less inspired. Like he's deliberately trying to do something of a particular genre but he doesn't quite get there. So it sounds like kind of an approximation of that style, where you can hear what the ideas are trying to be, but they're never quite executed well enough to get there. With "Technomancy" I felt like he was just having fun with what he had and used his sounds really well, and I like it a lot because of that. With this mix it sounds like he's trying to do something more epic and respectable and it just feels like a crude approximation of epicness rather than what it wants to be. I'm gonna ramble a little bit since this thread already has some of it: sometimes it seems like people are encouraged to make a certain kind of music, even when it goes against their instincts. I love OCR and video game music but I can't help feel like I'm insane when I listen to something that I feel is kind of uninspired and everyone else seems to really dig it. I think people always interpret non-positive comments about something as an attack, but to me it seems just better to take comments about the music at face value. I want people to grow, I want to hear them doing something interesting and fun and original, and I don't want to feel like they're just trying to make the kind of music that they think will make them more respected. I'm not necessarily saying that applies to this mix, just I don't think people should shy away from constructive criticism. It doesn't have to be about ego at all as long as people don't make it about that.

I have like 43 now I think. I'm gonna try to get 50 tomorrow.

I have absolutely zero interest in Reel Big Fish. However, this mix makes me happy as fuck! I think it's a pretty perfect genre adaptation for the original song. It wouldn't get on OCR these days cause it is pretty much the original with a few soloing bits, but it's near perfect at what it's trying to do.

This was the mix that got me into OCR. I even showed it to a couple friends who had played zelda 3 and said "isn't this the coolest thing ever?" The samples have shown some age, but I think they way they're processed helps them sound more realistic. The arrangement is very simple, but each element works really well. It also sounds like it's a natural fit for the darkworld theme to be done this way - the melody doesn't sound chopped up or that anything is taken away from it in the transition. The piano soloing in the middle doesn't knock yer socks off, but what's there is really effective. Still a really great mix, and one that I hope everyone hears.