Liontamer

Artist Name: jmr Games & Sources EarthBound - Snow Man https://ocremix.org/song/820/snowman https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niE24aTdtns EarthBound - In Winters There Is A Genius (similar song, but has a unique section at the end which I've used in my arrangement) https://ocremix.org/song/26452/in-winters-there-is-a-genius https://youtu.be/NY2SD4ur0Gc oooh fancy new submission form! Hey all! Hope you're doing well! Last month, I used Dwelling of Duels as an excuse to shake off the rust and try recording a solo arrangement for the first time in a while. Normally I'd turn to my Marshall Art bandmates for something like this - I'm severely outclassed as a guitarist compared to Mikhail and Cory, and I haven't programmed anything other than famitracker drums in years (and why would you, with ErichWK and Kev Ragone around?) - but I thought it would be a fun challenge for myself to make something entirely on my own. As the title of the arrangement alludes, this track is heavily inspired by the band Mono, particularly their song "Ashes in the Snow". There are some clear aesthetic and arrangement choices that are, shall we say, "borrowed" from that song (especially the drone and glockenspiel intro), but as my song proceeds I think it becomes it's own thing and leans less into their specific sound. A large number of the choices I made for the guitar tones and drum production (kick and snare spring reverb! :D) owe a lot to Cory Johnson's music. Cory's been an inspiration and a friend for over a decade now, and I've had the opportunity to collaborate with him quite a few times so it's maybe natural that his style would rub off on me. I think a few DoD voters might have thought this was one of his entries; I am merely the Big 8 to Cory's Coca Cola. I've also got to highlight one final influence - ella guro's "Unleashed!...". I posted a review of that track back in 2016: So here I am almost a decade later, finally recording the arrangement I had in mind back then. It's pretty clear how that version influenced mine: BIG AND LOUD AND SATURATED DRUMS. Thanks for the inspiration, Liz. One final note: the intro drone. It is intentionally uncomfortably long. For the DoD version, I decorated that section with a Carl Sagan sample from an interview about the risks of nuclear winter that is awfully, scarily relevant to today's climate change crisis. I've removed this sample to comply with the content policy, but I've opted to not cut down the length of the drone that was under the sample. Even without Carl's prophetic voice that drone sets the tone for the rest of the arrangement in a way that I felt simply didn't work when cut down. The whole idea is to create a mood of tension, discomfort, and unease, so if you don't like how long it takes the song to start, I say it's done it's job. All the best, and I hope you enjoy the track!

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Wow! And being a "Wings of Gold" fan back in the day with virt, I know Jake will enjoy this! Shit, is this an audition to do a Shovel Knight rock anthem arrangement album, because this is an amazing proof of concept. At 3:48, the guitar work took the intensity to another level; loved the layers/effects there. Triumphant! YES

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Credits: Lead Vocals: Valentino Francavilla Backing Vocals: Susanna Gray-Jones Guitar, Bass/Drum Programming, Mixing, Lyrics - WillRock Artist Comments "What if Helloween covered Shovel Knight?" Honestly, I'm not sure where the idea for this came from, because this idea first came to me maybe 5 years ago. This is the first time I've done a video game arrangement with a main vocal part taking the lead melody, complete with original lyrics. There are no synths this time around, and I went full on quad time drums power metal with this one, which I've dabbled with in previous remixes but never gone all out like this. Plus, Valentino Francavilla, a vocalist so good he could give Bruce Dickinson a run for his money, absolutely DEMOLISHES this vocal part. He steals the show completely, and I don't even care because he's THAT good. I'm amazed he agreed to it. I also got my cousin, Susanna Gray-Jones, to provide backing vocals that were layered into a choir, and you can hear her most clearly just after the last chorus. I know a lot of people often say this of their most recent work while they're hyped up about something new and exciting they've finished, but I'm going to go out there and say this just might be the best remix i've ever done, and it just wasn't possible without the help of both Valentino and Susanna. I should probably do more collabs... Source usage notes: 0:36 lead guitar riff is actually taken from the source, it plays in the background during the main chorus section and I expanded on it a bit. 3:48-4:28 is taken from Cargo of Fineries. The rest is from High Above The Land. Should add up to 50% all in. Lyrics Observe the skies for the air assault The captain knight, he prepares for the flight Into the skies, to the heavens we go A battlefield cry, we prepare to die Swift as a bird, a magnificent cur Watch your back for his rapier attack The engines roar as it takes to the skies We’ve got to prepare for war And we will lose ourselves in the clouds Just like an eagle We will fight and we will fly For valour and hope we rise We will fly high above the land Shoot into the stars We will fight and we may die for all of mankind Jumping on platforms that fall from the sky Using propellers to court his ascent The gallant knight will traverse the terrain Through burdensome winds The sunset blares as the wind knight looks on He meets his foe, for they’ll soon come to blows Ducking through every attack that he throws The propeller knight he falls And we will lose ourselves in the clouds Just like an eagle We will fight and we will fly For everyone we try We’ll fly high above the land Shoot into the stars We will fight and we may die for you AHHHHHHHHHHH The engines roar As it takes to the skies We’ve got to prepare for war And we will lose ourselves in the clouds Just like an eagle We will fight and we will fly For everyone we try We will fly high above the land Shoot into the stars We will fight and we may die for all of mankind

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In my entire life, I’ve never heard anything this goofy wrapped in a sinister cloak this effectively. Wow. AY!

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Artist Name: Jonathan Fleming-Bock In honor of Super Metroid's 30th anniversary, I wanted to have a bit of fun and remix one of it's most iconic tracks: Lower Brinstar. Hope you enjoy! My thanks and utmost respect goes to Kenji Yamamoto and all those who brought us this masterpiece of a game that will forever remain one of my all time favorites. In the remix, I wanted to emphasize and bring to the forefront the rhythmic aspect that is subtle in the more atmospheric original piece. I imagined a more menacing, determined energy as if Samus was in a hostile environment but fierce in her conviction to complete her mission. I also wanted to bring in some more oriental instruments such as the ghuzeng and xiao as the original hinted to me to have some eastern scales in some areas. I also opted to blend synths with the more acoustic orchestral sounds as a nod to the games original soundtrack being a blend of sci-fi with more traditional orchestral scores. All sounds and sources are from purchased and licensed VST libraries I've gathered over the years. Games & Sources In honor of Super Metroid's 30th anniversary, I wanted to have a bit of fun and remix one of it's most iconic tracks: Lower Brinstar. Composer: Kenji Yamamoto

When I say this, it'll sound like I'm holding my nose: I hate the dry, fakey brass samples in the intro so much! Each stab got me right in the ear. :-D It feels like the track's leaning into their cheesiness when they come back at :40. Nice switch-up at 1:04 into the guitar comping over the top of the source tune on bass, which also sounds super on-point; swanky swanky! I'll never love that brass; the way it's used in "Sing, Sing, Sing Your Heart Out" was stronger in that there was a fuller texture for it to sit in which helped mitigate the realism issues, but at the end of the day, the strength of the arrangement and performances more than carries it. Paperboy! YES

Earth Kid: Final Fantasy VII was my very first RPG, which I started playing at age 7 back when it first came out. It absolutely changed my life. I had a blast playing the remake, too, and the new original song, Hollow, blew me away at the end. The lyrics - which are essentially about grief - resonated with me personally. I'd wanted to cover it for a while and I first had the idea 3 years ago, but was finally able to finish it last year. The style of this arrangement was influenced by classic rock ballads with folk elements. I played the Irish bouzouki, piano/keys, accordion, harp, and got some practice with belting, which I've been doing a lot more of over the last few years. Erika contributed guitars, bass, and drums, and really helped bring my vision to life. I couldn't have pulled off the sound I wanted without her! I also incorporated a couple of references to other FFVII tracks. The harp arpeggio (...harpeggio?) during the guitar solo is inspired by the Prelude, and the one during the second bridge was modeled after the harp part in Dear to the Heart. During the second and third choruses, the accordion (doubled by the harp and mellotron) briefly quotes the melody of On That Day, Five Years Ago. I realized while arranging that the chord progression in the chorus kind of worked with that minor key version of the main theme, so of course I had to do something with it. I've been wanting to explore rock and metal genres more in my music lately (going back to some of my old roots), and this was a great outlet for that. It was a very cathartic song to work on, and I loved playing and singing it. I poured my soul into this track, and I hope you enjoy it! Erika: This track was a lot of fun for me to play on. I usually only do distorted rock/metal styles, but for this one I also played acoustic and clean electric. I enjoy how the layers turned out with the acoustic and electric guitars stacked on top of each other, it really adds some depth to the rhythm section of the arrangement. I also did something new for me, which was writing and playing a 3 part harmony for the guitar solo. I rarely do harmonies on my solos, so going for a 3 part was a fun way to change up the way I usually approach solos. My exposure to FF7 is much more recent than EK's, but I still have this fondness towards the game that is similar to that of games I played 20 years ago. Getting to work with her on this arrangement was a blast, and I'm very proud of how the song came out! Credits: Earth Kid: Vocals, Piano, Irish Bouzouki, Accordion, Harp, Keys (Mellotron, Organ), Arrangement, Mixing Erika Richards: Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Bass, Drum programming, Mastering www.youtube.com/EarthKid www.youtube.com/@ERichards Games & Sources Game: Final Fantasy VII Remake Composer: Nobuo Uematsu Lyrics: Kazushige Nojima Sources: Hollow On That Day, Five Years Ago: Prelude: Dear to the Heart: Note: Hollow is the primary source, with small quotes from the other listed tracks.

Artist Name: BronxTaco I actually covered the entire soundtrack in the same megadrive chiptune style, but singled out this track for submission as its the one where I deviated the most from the original material. I expanded the original 18 second loop to repeat 4 times with a build up in complexity and then reducing back down before finally looping. I belong to a community of Spelunky obssessives who speedrun all 3 games in the series - after hearing these tracks quite literally thousands of times it was actually quite a fast process convert them into these megadrive versions. I made them using the software Deflemask. Games & Sources The track is called Lush (or sometimes Jungle) from the original Spelunky game (referred to as Spelunky Classic). The original track is a short 18 second loop written by Jon Perry. https://hsmusic.wiki/album/spelunky-classic/

Agreed that the kick's way too loud and distorting the track. Will echo Hemo's comments that this is a fun cover, it just doesn't present much difference with the original song, so there's very little to distinguish it as a creative interpretation of it, at least from the lens of OCR's arrangement standards. Feels more like a traditional remix, so maybe it samples the original's chippy-style instrumentation, I'm not sure. I did enjoy the other instrumentation surrounding the chip though, so this is a successful cover aside from those kicks!

Opens up sparsely with the piano to set the stage for the strings at :24. I like the tone of these samples to start. Let's see if this branches off anywhere interesting. The feeling's a bit stilted over time, but still retaining my interest about 1:15 in, and then things subtly pivot. Not sure if some of the quiet vox padding is slightly & briefly off-key in places, but it could have just been my ears playing tricks on me. Things drop off some at 1:44, and this section's not a bad idea in principle, but it didn't need to go on until 2:14, it could have dropped a few bars and gotten back to the melody more quickly. At 2:14, we get another iteration of the source melody and at this point, the stilted sequencing/timing of the leads and piano was standing out more and I was wanting the arrangement to have more dynamic contrast and more humanization. Speak of the devil, there's an attempt to vary up the presentation with some kicks at 3:39. The beats were too boomy, slightly off-time and had 0 synergy with the other instrumentation, so I was glad they didn't last too long. Pretty anti-climactic end to that theme though, unfortunately. 4:06 changed over to "Theme of Aya". Everything's still very robotic-sounding; somewhat understandable given the source material, but there's more depth to the sounds in the original, whereas these lead sounds are very thin/tinny and the beats are very metronome-like. Be sure to watch the ending cutting off abruptly. There's room to achieve a richer texture with your instrumentation; cool source tune choices, regardless, and I liked hearing your rendition. Lots of room for growth and development, I hope you keep at it!

There's definitely potential, just from an OC ReMix arrangement standards lens, to be more interpretive with the treatment of the composition. That said, from a sound design perspective, this already personalizes the theme quite nicely, even if we're looking for additional aspects of arrangement. Too bad the track also has no real resolution; there's definitely more runway available to iterate on the theme further, perhaps get more interpretive with a second verse. Cool sound upgrade, peshti!

Not sure if the source tune is ineligible for OC ReMix due to being a licensed track not written for the game; would be a shame if so. Super classy source tune, so let's see what's up with this treatment. Breakbeats! Interesting giving the brass a more muted sound and leaning more on the breakbeats and piano, but everything's balanced well, IMO, so none of that observation's a complaint. Interesting to build around just one or two melodic segments, but there's enough textural dynamics to retain my interest. I can see some saying 5 minutes is too long and that it should change up more or explore other areas of the theme. To me, this could use some further variations, however, the interpretation of the theme's already substantive enough. Cool approach, and always love to hear the Rukunetsu spices in play!

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 like that the beats have a kind of swung rhythm, but they do plod after a while. New section at 1:04 dragged a lot and the texture felt too empty; the overly fake-sounding string sustains, piano, and kicks all hurt this on a sound quality level. I like the string writing at 1:42 in principle, it's just an ultra fakey sound, and the placement is so loud compared to everything else. Cool rhythmic change at 2:01. I wish the textures were more sophisticated or better padded, because there's so much empty space due to how thin the instrumentation is. Could use more melodic usage of "Hidden Palace" as well. It's a start!

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The opening lead is really buzzy; it adds a lot of trailing mud in the high-end frequencies that ends up crowding the soundscape, even though, texturally, there's not much going on. Same with :19, that other line is too muddy. The dropoff at :33's probably my highlight. There's care put into varying the textures, but the overall timing of things still feels stilted and locked to grid, so the energy of the writing is undermined by the rigid timing. Even the stutter synth from :58-1:13, the effect feels passe pretty early on because of the overall timing feeling too robotic. I'm sure prophetik explained it best, as an experienced musician, but despite all the activity going on with the beat-writing, the beats also plodded. Consider examining tutorial or workshopping videos on beatmaking in FL Studio, e.g. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHOI0c-w_sE The sound design is an improvement from many iterations ago, yet it's going to need some further leaps. You actually can make strong stuff with FL presets, so you don't need different sounds, just better use of what's already available. Listening to something like Rellik's "Mirror and Transparent" from way back, it's all default FL sounds and effects, yet the flow of it all is so much more vibrant: https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR01475. It'll sound like I'm saying Rellik's the bar, when that's well above it, or that you need to adopt his specific writing style. That said, this is still very far from having the writing or production sophistication to get this close to the bar. Keep doing more research & workshopping, and keep learning. NO (resubmit)

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Dense, and potentially valid to criticize on that account, but nothing interfering with my ability to make out the partwriting. Mauricio really shines at taking these iterative, pattern-heavy sources and applying his brand of expansively epic & dynamic heavy metal! YES