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Liontamer   Judges ⚖️

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Everything posted by Liontamer

  1. Artist Name: Heel Tactics Made this a long-ass time ago. Thought I'd submit it for funsies.
  2. Artist Name: Heel Tactics Made this a long-ass time ago. Thought I'd propose it for funsies.
  3. Artist Name: Ivan Hakštok This was my entry in the June 2024 Franchise Fusion Month on Dwelling of Duels. I've had the idea of combining Termination and Those Who Fight Further for years now, and once the DoD theme was announced I immediately thought it might be the time to finally tackle that idea. The end result is this epic/pirate metal thingy which I find quite enjoyable, and I hope you will find it enjoyable too. :D Edit (11-27-24): Hello! If it's not too late, could I ask for FF7: Remake (source tune: The Airbuster) to also be included in the credits for this? I wanted to include it in my original submission but I thought it might be redundant since that source is also a cover of Those Who Fight Further, and until today I kinda completely forgot about it. There are parts of my arrangement which are based on the Remake version instead of the original so I just wanted to be 100% clear on that. Thanks! Games & Sources Ys 2 - Termination Final Fantasy 7 - Those Who Fight Further Final Fantasy 7 Remake - The Airbuster
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  6. It's a shame The Pancake Chef disappeared from the scene, as he always had fun and well-personalized arrangement ideas. Though some sounds were thin and dated, the vocals here were the attention-grabber and stood out as a unique component, especially back in the day, and the hand percussion was nothing to sneeze at either.
  7. Surprised I never chimed in on this one, since I've been a fan of it since it was posted. Strong orchestration of a classic!
  8. I wouldn't have minded more dynamics, but this sets a great mood. Russell's work really sounded luxurious back in the day, he always had strong samples relative to what was out there at the time. This holds up nicely, and I'd probably rank him at the top for ReMixers along with Nigel Simmons in terms of whose work I'd want to hear with a live orchestra.
  9. MIDI-riffic, but we stan Chocobo here. :-) When’s someone else going to hit this theme???
  10. I hope Juverna's doing well, it's been two decades since I've gotta to chat with her. We all know this is dated, including Candy herself, but at least it reps an interesting game that never gets arranged. Her FF4 mix is a little bit cleaner.
  11. Nice genteel approach. Great candidate for sheet music and a live adaptation, IMO, particularly after the twist in style for the second half. We miss you, Gray; hope you resurface one day. :-)
  12. I can hear how it's Disco Dan's style and instrumentation, though I do enjoy how it doesn't fit in the dance mold like most of his work. It'll sound like I don't like DD's typical style (when those are some of the catchiest on the site); I'd definitely love to hear more takes like this from Dan where there's an electronic overall sound, but not in the dance realm. Nice to hear another wrinkle to his game, even from way, way back. :-)
  13. The samples are dated, and I wish this didn't clip so much. Fun for what it was, though I wish the brass had more meat to it. Lighthearted stuff. :-)
  14. Similar to the knock on Lucas with the initial version of "Net Fish and Chill", the sax performance needs more practice to achieve a strong, fluid sound. When the sax was the lead, the tone felt very shaky and honky plus the timing was super stilted, like a sax VST being played in by keyboard (1:15-1:54, 2:36-2:54). The way it's mixed downplayed those issues some, and the genre transformation's strong, so I understand why this otherwise sailed through, and this isn't a strong dissent. It's one of those tracks where I love it, but would send it back; I think, if Lucas spends lot of time on his sax work, he'd listen back years later, pick it apart, and know he could nail this much better. Fun stuff, great genre choice, but with one notable area of improvement that could have made this fully cohesive. Lucas's overall mixing sounds solid, and the musicianship of everything else is the bee's knees. NO (resubmit)
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  18. Artist Name: shieldeater hi OCR, this track is my take on "Dr. Andonuts' Lab". the source is fairly minimal - mainly three melodic fragments over a drone. i build it out from there with guitar, bass, drums, strings, and reharmonizing with each repetition and adding a couple of "beatlesque" touches. it ends up in a place that feels a little warmer and more hopeful than the emotionally distant original, perhaps suggesting the possibility of reconciliation. hope you enjoy! Games & Sources This track arranges "Dr. Andonuts' Lab" from EarthBound (original composers Keiichi Suzuki and Hirokazu Tanaka). There are also one or two brief quotes from other Earthbound material.
  19. Artist Name: Xaleph, Zack Parrish, Pixels & Paradiddles Assignments: Arrangers: Xaleph everything but the solo section Paradiddles 2:19-3:14 Mastering: Zack Parrish Guitarists: Pixels and Zack Parrish Bass Guitar: Zack Parrish Drums: Paradiddles Vocals: Xaleph (everything but growling) Pixels (growling) Commentary: Ok so... normally I don't sing a lot and I'm pretty self conscious of my voice. I did a lot of singing when I was younger but not so much in the last 10-15 years other than in the car, at church, or in the shower. We wanted this competition piece to be a curveball where it wasn't really clear who did it. We also wanted the sages to do a song together, thought it would be fun! We really enjoyed this song, would love to talk about the process of writing it, performing it, and all the in/outs beyond what I wrote here. This song we tried to make it one of the more complex songs we've written given the ridiculous time signature changes in both pieces. It was such a blast to write, perform, write lyrics for, and produce. Crafting singable and captivating lyrics for FF7-RE2 proved to be a formidable challenge. The introductory section is set in 6/4 time, transitioning to a bridge in 5/4, and is followed by a loop of 8/4 (two measures of 4/4), 7/4, 7/4, and 7/4. I also re-recorded certain parts rather than merely copying and pasting to infuse more emotion. This complexity is partly attributable to my arrangement of the song, as we aimed to create one of the more technically demanding pieces to perform while maintaining its catchiness. The drummer, guitarists, and bassists all executed their parts brilliantly. In reference to the RE2 malformation of the G theme, the chorus vocals overlay this motif/theme atop the FF7 line. The intricate time signature changes in RE2, when mapped onto the equally complex signatures of FF7, required considerable effort to achieve a natural song flow. We wanted this to be a hidden flex to those perceptive musicians, drawing inspiration from Tool, known for their complex compositions. We also have a more refined version of this song that we will release at a later time Lyrics: Stay Away Music by Xaleph, Zack Parrish, Pixels & Paradiddles Lyrics by Xaleph Doesn't feel right It's in my veins Pressure hurts Melting brain My mind is split Split inside This headache burns Breathing hurts It doesn't feel right Something's inside Wide awake (What am I again?) Zombie (Surging through my skin) I don't like this virus I don't feel like myself I didn't choose violence (Walls are turning) Violence is pulsing in me I just want to take a rest I didn't choose violence (Zombie) Wide awake (What am I again?) Zombie (Surging through my skin) Wide awake (Doesn't feel right) Something's burning in my brain (Split inside) Cruel machinations Stay Away (Who am I?) Walls are turning (What am I?) Fight the strain Disorientation (What am I again?) ...disorientation Stay away (Doesn't feel right) Far away (Split inside) Stay away (Who am I?) Far away (What am I?) Wide awake (Doesn't feel right) Zombie (Split inside) Wide awake (Who am I?) Zombie (What am I?) Stay away (Doesn't feel right) Far away (Split inside) Stay away (Who am I?) Far away (What am I?) Stay Away source breakdown: “Hurry Up!” (Aka “Hurry Faster!”) from Final Fantasy VII 0:00-0:13 - Intro/A (6) 0:13-0:22 - B (8-7-7-7) 0:22-0:34 - A’ 0:34-0:44 - B’ 0:44-0:56 - C (7x3, 6, 7) 0:56-1:20 - D (6 - unused) “The 2nd Malformation of ‘G’” from Resident Evil 2 0:00-0:11 - Intro 0:11-0:25 - A (RE2 motif) 0:25-0:33 - B (vamp to loop point, repeat from intro) Stay Away 0:00-0:17 - Original material (shape resembles front portion of Hurry Up! A) 0:17-0:21 - Hurry Up! A tail 0:21-0:39 - original material/Hurry Up! A repeat, drums make small reference to 1:20-1:28 of “Jenova Absolute” from FF7 in tabla sample triggering 0:39-0:45 - Hurry Up! A tail repeat 0:45-0:56 - Hurry Up! B in band, variation of 2nd Malformation A section melody in vocal 0:56-1:22 - Hurry Up! A in full, played twice 1:22-1:43 - 2nd Malformation intro, transmogrified into complex time signature 1:43-2:13 - Hurry Up! B in band, 2nd Malformation A in vocal 2:18-3:14 - Hurry Up! C front end, variation of 2nd Malformation intro back half. Section inspired by drum solo section (4:06-5:06) of “Forty-Six & 2” by Tool 3:14-3:31 - variation of intro riff 3:31-3:52 - Hurry Up! B without vocal 3:52-4:12 - Hurry Up! B in band, 2nd Malformation A in vocal 4:12-4:29 - repeat of 3:14-3:31 Games & Sources Final Fantasy VII - Hurry Up! (Hurry Faster!) https://musescore.com/user/27353615/scores/8336132 Resident Evil 2 - Second Malformation of G A Section: 7/8, 9/8, 7/8, 9/8 A->B 7/8, 4/4 B: 4/4 x 8 C: 4/4 x 3, 2/4, 5/4 (back to A on loop) Also - we did have a reference to FF7 Jenova Absolute, though it was not a part of the mashup. 0:21-0:39 - original material/Hurry Up! A repeat, drums make small reference to 1:20-1:28 of “Jenova Absolute” from FF7 in tabla sample triggering
  20. Artist Name: Zanezooked Original Decision RESUBMISSION of https://ocremix.org/community/topic/53085-no-myth-1-2-victory-at-madrigal/ My original submission received kind words for the arrangement but was criticized for the mastering and sample quality. Hopefully this revision addresses that. I also took the opportunity to make some other changes. List of changes: Quality string libraries are now used: Spitfire Abbey Road One Soaring High Strings and Legendary Low Strings for violins, cellos, and basses; Audio Imperia Areia for violas; and EastWest Hollywood Strings for tremolos and other special dynamics. (The brass, by the way, is Aaron Venture Infinite Brass, and the brief flute and piccolo are from Aaron Venture Infinite Woodwinds. The solo cello is the Audio Modeling SWAM Solo Cello performed on an Akai EWI USB.) Mixing and EQing was completely redone, track by track, using Izotope Neutron Mastering was redone using Izotope Ozone. The solo cello has been carefully EQed using reference recordings of real solo cellos, and placed in the mix better to make it feel more like an organic part of the whole. It no longer blares over the whole orchestra. In the mid-track crescendo leading into the triumphant stings, the female choir now sings a falling sequence, while the male choir still sings the original rising sequence. This signifies Shiver's fall into despair and Rabican's growing power over her. Also, a falling female choir sounds better—less shrill. The female choir has been redone using six AI voices from ACE Studio, layered together, and then layered with the original EastWest Hollywood Choirs. I had asked about potentially doing this in one of the threads about AI and no one objected, so hopefully this is okay. AI did none of the compositional work for me. The process of crafting the AI voices is exactly the same as the process I used originally with the sample-based EastWest Hollywood Choirs: I placed all the notes, assigned them phonemes, and then tweaked expression parameters to try to get something that sounds natural. The difference is that you can actually hear the consonants and syllables with the ACE Studio singers. This ad hoc choir wouldn’t work if the AI singers were exposed, but as part of a mix I’m pleased with how it turned out. At the end of the track I added an extra bar between the brass statement of the theme and the return to the piano and cello, to provide an extra breath. Original submission notes: I’ve been a regular visitor to OCRemix since 2002. A significant portion of my music library comes from here. So it’s with some trepidation that I send my first submission. And not only am I daring to submit to OCRemix, but I also have the hubris to remix the great Michael Salvatori and Mr. Halo himself, Marty O’Donnell! “The Siege of Madrigal” is a piano piece by Michael Salvatori. It’s one of two simple but gorgeous melodies Salvatori composed “in the style of Marty” which Marty O’Donnell loved so much he integrated in multiple ways into the soundtracks of their respective games (the other is “Unforgotten” from Halo 2, which saw a return as “Never Forget” in Halo 3). Marty loved “The Siege of Madrigal” so much he even hid it inside Halo, so for many people it’s known as “the Halo Easter Egg Song.” I heard it in Myth, though, years before Halo, so I know it as the song that plays as the war-weary, anonymous narrator describes a last-chance plan to strike the armies of the Dark and their leader, the Fallen Lord Shiver, and break the siege that is strangling the city of Madrigal. Myth is a game about small, desperate battles fought by a single battalion on the fringes of a greater, losing war, so we don’t directly see what happens at Madrigal; the player spends the mission running a diversionary raid to try to draw some of the enemy away from the city. But in the following mission briefing we are told what happened: This sudden, unexpected victory in the face of certain defeat is what Tolkien would term a eucatastrophe. It captured my imagination. I tried to tell that story in this remix. We start with the Siege of Madrigal theme in piano in its original C major, but with the rising quartet of notes between phrases removed to make it more hesitant. The addition of harmonic high strings underlines the uncertainty. At 0:30 a solo cello picks up the theme. Marty O’Donnell made the low cello the featured instrument in Myth, so this seemed appropriate. (Also, I love the cello.) The rising quartet of notes is restored, making the theme a little more hopeful. At 0:59 we get a sweeping string statement of the Madrigal theme, but the peak of the melody is lowered from A to F, making it more somber and unresolved. At 1:28 the piano comes back along with high string tremolos, but instead of finishing the melodic phrase with a D, it modulates into an unresolved and uneasy D#, taking us into the key Db, while we also switch from 3/4 to 7/8 time. The next part represents the “dream duel” between Rabican and Shiver. What’s a dream duel? It’s never specified. I imagined each duelist attempting to invade the other’s mind and plant thoughts that undermine their strength and open them to attack. Shiver’s weakness was vanity, which seems strange for a 1000-year-old undead crone who looks the part. But she wasn’t always an undead crone. So perhaps Rabican’s strategy is to remind her of what she has lost. She may be immortal, but is it worth it if this is how she spends eternity? Rabican’s persistent attacks on Shiver’s psyche are represented by a male choir and a creepy, guttural chant in Irish, with Shiver’s thoughts are represented by a female choir also singing Irish. Irish names and words are often used in Myth, though not very accurately—more for flavor—so this seemed appropriate. I used Google Translate and then found an audio pronunciation for each word, and I’m sure I mangled it, and it’s not like it’s understandable anyway, but hey, it gave me something to work with, and I thought it was cool. At 1:31 the male chant begins: At 1:45 the low cello starts an aggressive, grinding ostinato. This is the "Great Library” theme from Myth II: Soulblighter, by Marty O’Donnell. At 2:01 the female choir sings a fast, 7/8 version of "Fallen Lords" theme from Myth: The Fallen Lords, by Marty O’Donnell: 2:22: the men’s choir rises ominously, doubled in horns to give their line punch as Rabican pushes the blade as deep as he can: 2:30 the women sing, 2:37 men and women sing together: The section builds to a frantic crescendo and then the clouds part at 2:56 as the Madrigal theme returns with its high A restored. The low cello is still prominent but now rhythmically supports the triumphant tone of the strings. At 3:23 we get a final, driving reprise of the theme in full glory, with horns and trombones taking the melody, a soaring counterpoint in the trumpets, and a bodhrán (Irish drum) pulling us forward. At 3:51 we end with a final statement of the Madrigal theme on cello and piano, made hopeful by borrowing a high sequence from the earlier trumpet counterpoint. There’s an image from Myth I was thinking of here, a soldier standing on a battlefield, arms spread, face to the opened heavens. The battle is won. Weariness and joy mingle like the rain. (Madrigal would be utterly destroyed months later. But don’t tell our soldier that.) I hope this is an enjoyable remix! Games & Sources Myth: The Fallen Lords The Siege of Madrigal, by Michael Salvatori The Fallen Lords, by Marty O'Donnell Myth II: Soulblighter The Great Library, by Marty O'Donnell
  21. Artist Name: Mellow Sonic Thought I'd try submitting that one too. The menu theme from Half-Life is quite nice, unfortunately too short and I decided to reinterpret a longer version of it. Games & Sources
  22. Artist Name: Mellow Sonic I'm not really a big Assassin's Creed fan, but this Ezio's Family theme by jesper kyd is just epic. After hearing it, I thought I could play a bit of it. Now, after several attempts, I've finally finished the remix. All parts were played freely, nothing was sampled from the original! cheers! Games & Sources
  23. Always been a fan of this theme. The sound design and writing of the beats at :23 felt somewhat vanilla, but there's solid enough heft to the beats. The sound design for the lead's also pretty vanilla & straightforward; again, it gets by, but could be more sophisticated. I liked the addition of the belltones at 1:10 to vary up the feel, followed by some subtle countermelodic writing added at 1:33, another strong and creative touch to offer some dynamic contrast. Good dropoff of the beats at 1:57, though this section sounded murkier/lossier than any other area of the track; that only lasted until 2:21 though, so that wasn't a huge deal in the big picture. The repetitiveness of the 2:44 was admittedly a little disappointing, but the lead had a slightly different tone, and then changed at 3:09 to a highr pitch, so that was enough to at least not be in cut-and-paste territory. Another subtle change in the tone and textures at 3:31 for the final section, all good stuff! There's room for more production sophistication, sure, yet that obviously doesn't discount the quality already here. Nothing wrong with working within a narrower dynamic curve as long as the arrangement is interpretive and substantive, so nice work to 7DD9 on the subtle, expansive development of this one. :-) YES
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