Liontamer

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The lead sound's unfortunately not pleasing, and it sounds like the structure's verbatim with the original, with some denser sounds. There was one spot of genuinely creative additive writing after a while, the gliding synth at 1:23, which had a nice sound to it. By 1:40, I was ready for something else to be going on, and then I heard some other quiet string sustains briefly show up until 1:58. Those were good parts, but there's still not much going on dynamically with the arrangement. 2:20 finally drops the main beat pattern, but it's only until 2:29. OK, another beat dropoff at 2:38, but boy does this sound atonal due to these beats, all the way until 3:25. Kind of felt like Adon's theme in Street Fighter 1, which is not a compliment, I'm afraid. There's notable effort given to varying up the textures, but too much off-key writing. When the main beats are in play, they sound decent and have some impact, but the track also plateaus at that level and never gets more intense; combined with the very static timing (which I realize is a carryover from the source), this plods over time, with the textural changes not being enough to keep it engaging. Good initial effort, Boris. It's a ways from being something we could pass, but there's growth potential for you, so keep at it. NO

ReMixer name: BRTD2005 Real name: Boris Email address: User ID: 38804 Name of game arranged: Aero The Acro-Bat 1 (SEGA Genesis) Name of individual song arranged: Circus Act 5 (Synthwave Remix) Additional info: composed by Fox Productions, a.k.a. Rick Fox Link to the original soundtrack: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMtbCu4M4UY

Original decision Above is latest judges decision. Attached is my latest attempt at remixing the song Searching for Friends from FF6. To the judges' panel, I attempted to make this version of Lookin' for Buddies more cohesive...one of the judges correctly figured out that I was changing instrumentation based on new people joining your party. I'm still going for that idea. Instead of using just synths, I used a DirectWave flute instrument that made myself after taking 15 minutes to record samples of myself when I had a short bit of quiet time. I also used a guitar vst, and a percussive rock organ instrument that I applied some effects to. I did still use two synths for melody for a short period in the tune that I hope I varied the parameters on enough. Original linked, remix attached https://youtu.be/XEO7RCD7jVg?si=5ScZmPzpj69OLjBr Thanks for your consideration! Respectfully, Eric, aka Audiomancer

Opened up with some fakey piano that nonetheless had good body to it. Around :30, I thought things were overdue to move away from the build, especially because texturally, nothing new was happening. Consider some light SFX or quiet additive writing earlier than :59. Beats arrive at :59, but since this is 6:30-long, we've still got a lot of runway, thus the slow build. Admittedly, this build's boring for me, and the exposed piano sample always playing each measure exactly the same as the previous times also gets boring over time. Some warbling added to the picture at 1:59, and the fakey piano's exactly the same, the "Prelude" theme is exactly the same. Not sure where the rumbling was coming from during 2:38-2:52, maybe due to the timing of something being slightly off; hopefully a musician judge can co-sign hearing something off there and identify a possible cause. Some cheap, low-quality claps are added in at 2:59; they just sound lossy and completely not in the same soundscape, and it's a boring, plodding, vanilla, basic pattern. Poorly integrated; I would have used different claps. 3:59 finally brings in the countermelody from FF4 on organ keyboard, though it pumps (and is mixed) in a way that doesn't let it cut through as much as those beats/kicks. I knew 5:29 would just keep repeating the theme ad nauseum based on the prior build, but I was hoping for a turn of some sort and it never came. 5:59 drops everything out except the countermelody for a winddown finish, and the track unceremoniously cuts off with no ending at 6:29. There's expansiveness to the sound, Keeb, but ultimately not enough substantial writing or textural variation to justify this length. Getting a warmer, more varied & humanized piano sound and different claps would be nice too, but that's small potatoes compared to the bigger overarching issue of the writing lacking development. NO

I'm classifying this as FF4 due to the secondary melody finally referenced at 3:59; that's only found in the "Prelude" from FF4-on, but I included the NES version for reference. -LT Remixer Name: Keebmouse Game: Final Fantasy Arrangement: Prelude to a Dream Remix of: Prelude - Final Fantasy Private Soundcloud Link

Opens up pretty heavy with a nicely personalized EDM take on the source. Loud and cramped to start, and then gets more cramped at :28; I did like the countermelodic writing that was added in there though. I'm not a producer, but prophetik gave some potentially helpful feedback on some of the cluttered frequencies. That said, if the arrangement side was a pass, I could approve something mixed like this; even if it was technically clipping, the density and levels didn't bother me. :55 moved over to the chorus, and that was a good opportunity to change the textures or intensity some, even briefly. It makes the retread of the verse at 1:23 feel samey even though some of the supporting writing changed; another idea could be changing the sound or the lead at 1:23 and/or the countermelody at 1:51. At 2:18 for the chorus again, the writing was a cut-and-paste retread of :55's section until 2:46. Yeah, the textures do change a little, but the leads and countermelodies sounding the same throughout isn't staying interesting for the length of the track. For example, the countermelodic writing at :28 is the same as 1:51 and 2:45. See what more you can do to vary up some sounds or textures, vary some rhythms, or employ other techniques to keep the presentation fresh. Great base here, Bryan, and it's great to hear music from you again! As I said at the start, the EDM arrangement approach was creative and well suited; now, it's a matter of ensuring the piece doesn't drag out from a lack of enough dynamic contrast. NO (resubmit)

Many thanks for the detailed and helpful source usage breakdown! Opens up like gritty mud, but OK. 1:01-1:20 is pretty static-y/crunchy; intentional, but I could understand people put off by it; crunchiness is back from 1:28-2:23 and I can totally see how the crunchiness is just getting in the way. I personally don't like the effect and think if you fixate on it, it sounds worse, so I can empathize with a NO on those grounds and would love to hear that dialed back. But I can also live with this when contrasting it with what else works within the arrangement, which is lopsided toward the arrangement being on point. From 3:02-3:18, I wish the electric guitar doing the call-and-response with the horns was louder to help the inherent contrast of this section with 2:06's better stand out. Electric guitar stuff from 3:56-4:13 was a nice highlight. Acoustic guitar at 4:13 (and earlier at 1:56) sounded sick; too bad it had a quality disparity with that blocky, fake-sounding piano from 4:22-4:27. Strings at 4:27 were OK but kind of exposed. Arrangement's got strong dynamics, and the sprinkles of EK's VA & vox were cool. Those damn crunchies. YES (borderline) EDIT (11/4): Improved's mixdown's improved. [/sic] Bye to the crunchies. YES

Whoa, sounds incredibly lossy, like I recorded it off the speaker I was listening to it on or was encoded at 64kbps. I like the energy of the performances. The bowed strings are defintely the weak link here; they sound so unrealistic, yet the attacks are so loud and just forcing you to pay attention from :00-:27. Main verse melody starts at :27 and the soundscape is cluttered until :40 thanks to the muddy (and overly fake-sounding) vox padding. The layered guitars sound strong and the percussion's solid as well with some energetic rhythms; obviously not mixed ideally, especially the kick drums being so loud, but they're still positives. Man, the strings from 1:27-1:30 were just shrill and fake-sounding, then the orch stabs from 1:36-1:39 were brutally fake and exposed. Some good guitar soloing at 1:39-2:07, but the drum kicks were cutting through too much, IMO. More weak supporting strings and vox during another iteration of the verse from 2:21-2:48, followed by some loose yet creative interpretation of the chorus's part until 3:02. Sloppy and akward cutoff of the vox samples at 3:19 for the finish, which hurt it, but would hopefully be easy enough to fix. prophetik wanted to see more done with the arrangement, but the presentation's stylized enough, so to me that already-interpretive treatment can bear some repetition; there's no copy-pasta here, so I'm not on board with that criticism. The mixing should be cleaned up, the crummier samples (string, vox) need to have their lack of realism mitigated or eliminated. It's got good energy otherwise, and the arrangement/writing doesn't need to be touched, so I'd love to hear a revision, Hunter. Good work so far, but it's missing some attention to detail on the production side to help it be fully cohesive. NO (resubmit)

Opens up with some plinky piano but solid orchestration, and I like the percussion. Brass was really blatty at :12, almost sounding like it was lightly distorting, and the orchestration and vox were sounding distant. Nice turn at :39 with some deep bass, and a nice sweep sound from :57-1:03, but this mixing's shot and there's 0 clarity and sharpness aside from some abrasive volume until the textures abruptly changed at 1:15. Vox awkwardly changed from note-to-note, most exposed at 1:15 & 1:21, but adequately covered up later. A good textural change at 1:39, and I like the deep bass sound, but this mixing's doing it no favors. After the second poorly mixed track in a row, I literally had to thrown on a control track just make sure it wasn't my setup. I'm not put off as much by the repetition; prophetik's not wrong about it though. To me it sounds like you only sent in the first half of the arrangement, and then there's a raincheck on the second half. Even with an adequately personalized sound to the arrangement so far, I agreed with him that you'll need to develop this further. Cleaning up the sequencing and mixing is important as well though; find out how you can sharpen and tighten this up, the sequencing being the more important of the two. There's obvious potential here, Darryl, and this has a big sound, but this just isn't a complete arrangement yet. NO (resubmit)

I liked how the percussion really change the flow of the piece. I could live with how the loops have been used, but prophetik's right though, where's the rest? The core beat though is extremely plodding, and despite all of the cool drumming going on, that kick stays in one place the entire time. Ignoring the melody and the loops, that kick is extremely boring and eventually weighs the whole thing down. Though you don't need to veer hard in the other direction and make it ultra-busy, it's not working as is. The plucked lead at :24 sounds thin and mechanical; it's actually serviceable, but when I hear something like that I'm thinking that it's a good starting point that will eventually get doubled or effected to then create some contrast, and that also never happened either, as we get the same sound for the melody finally arriving at 1:45, only with the sample sounding even more exposed. When the melody arrives too, the source's bassline is also there, but it barely, barely registers. At 2:32, we get another round of the melody with this plucked lead, and I'm ready for this to be over because the core of it is still so static; it's undercutting the more subtle textural differences you were trying to present underneath the melody. prophetik had much more salient comments, and he's a gentleman and a scholar. Really good potential here, IMO. Figure out how to spice this up and don't stop cookin' here, Alexis, it's not fully baked. NO (resubmit)

I asked our admin djpretzel and he couldn't reproduce the error: "likely to be specific to their network or browser" Is there any more information you can provide on what torrent client you're trying to use and/or any network info?

Flooded to start, which I wasn't a fan of, even if it's all about tension. To me, the intro just sounds like a lot of distortion. Anyway, things kick in at 1:05 and I'm impressed yet again with how you aped Pink Floyd's style while maintaing the needed connections to such a minimal Chrono Trigger theme. The guitar work and production sounded clean while having an authentic Floyd-like feel. Love that the sustained chords found in the source are ever-present here while also serving as a stylistic connection to "Shine On...". The way you fashioned a melody derived from pair of notes at :15 and :26 of the original was smart stuff as well, and the synth's sound was pure. Shit, even the source's voice SFX was referenced with the guitar at :07. Major props to Zach, both a crazy and insane diamond in this community. EDIT (11/19): I was fine with the original version and didn't think the droning negatively affected the listen (those drones reinforced the source's structure), but, since the source usage didn't hinge on the droning, I'm fine with this revised version that dialed it way back. YES

Issues first: 1:04-1:06 sounded like a honking noise out of nowhere. The string decay at 6:19 was the only major point where I scratched my head at how hugely and needlessly exposed the samples were. The strings were probably the biggest drawback when it comes to realism, so I do wish Rebecca's could find ways to raise that up. No, it won't fool listeners, but our bar doesn't require realism, just a reasonable semblance of it (juggled with creative writing, good sound design, and/or musicianship), so I disagree that the soundset Rebecca's cultivated and used is close to the line. It's not just about the sounds but how they're used. Way more often than not, Tripp doesn't fall, even if we perceive a stumble. I didn't have any problem with the panning or mixing, and the medley structure also flowed well. I always dig Rebecca's style; she always leaves her telltale mark on things, and that's a testament to her sound palette. Let the birds loose, let the rainstick flow! YES

Teo's previous sub had drawbacks with the sample realism, even though I was fine with it. Once the percussion kicked in at :42, I thought I was being taken to the 1970s, so that's was interesting. Cool rhythmic changes to this. Nice dropoff at 1:38 to vary the textures and add some tension with the bowed strings in the back. A third of the way in, I'm feeling confident based on the quality of the arrangement, but we'll see if anything's got holes in it. The piano at 2:42's probably the track's weakest link; too mechanical-sounding, not enough body to it. Glad it went away at 3:07. Sustains on that wind instrument at 2:49 were pretty rough too. Sounded like soft crackles/distortion in the background at 3:42, 3:52 and 3:53, and 3:59, which may be tied to one of the samples. Unfortunate that the decaying piano chord briefly created dissonance at 5:01 and got in the way of the last moments of the "Fallen Down" ending; maybe that can be touched up. The musician Js will be able to cite more specifics on what's lacking on the production side. Just like Teo's previous Undertale submission -- which I disagreed with the judges for rejecting -- some of the samples weren't the best, but the arrangement is interpretive, the samples are used reasonably well enough to overcome their shortcomings, and the presentation has character. YES

Super cheap-sounding vox at :23. The strings at :15 also sounded flimsy, though they have more of a Mario Kart 64 quality. In any case, it's not about the samples, it's how you use them, so once the texture filled in more at :30, I thought things sounded more borderline, but in the right direction. The steel drums at 1:02 should have been louder; they feel too quietly positioned compared to the beats; nothing that ruins the track. At 1:33, the lil' bass kicks cut through too much, and the (exposed) strings were too laggy and behind the beat. Good brief dropoff of the beats from 1:48-1:56 to give them a breather. When they come back, I'm just left focusing on how thin things feel despite a lot of activity going on. The boom-tss added in from 2:11 surprisingly helped fill things in well, but that only lasted until 2:26. Lots of textural changes throughout help keep the overall presentation from getting stale, but this should be mixed in a way to give the sounds more body and not let the fakeness of the samples be so exposed, whether that be applying some more delay or room ambiance, or adding some padding. The beat-writing does vary up, but the core patterns tended to feel bland. Melodically, this could also do more to vary things up somehow, but that's more about pointing out another available arrangement tactic. To me, it's just lots of little things adding up to hold this back rather than any huge problems. Good base here, Cameron; the arrangement's in the right direction in terms of personalizing the presentation, and you're squeezing juice out of these sounds. I'm hoping another pass at this with percussion and/or production improvements can further shape it up and move it solidly over the line. NO (resubmit)

Your ReMixer name: Ordonis Your real name: Cameron Bellini Your email address: Your website(s): https://soundcloud.com/ordonis Your userid (number, not name) on our forums, found by viewing your forum profile: 35966 Name of game(s) arranged: Mario Kart 64 Name of arrangement: Troppe Houseland Name of individual song(s) arranged: Frappe Snowland/Sherbet Land Your own comments about the mix, for example the inspiration behind it, how it was made, how the source material was referenced in the arrangement, etc.: This is my first remix for OCR, so I wanted to do something that would be instantly recognizable. I've always loved Mario Kart 64 and specifically the Frappe Snowland music, but I always thought it would work better for a beach level. So I made it into a tropical house track featuring my man Toad on vox. I kept the arrangement fairly conservative in order to really emphasize the instrumental changes and reinforce the danciness of the track. Throw in a fun little bass solo, and you've got a head boppin' tune that'll keep the nerd dance floor pumping!

Being super late to the party since we're about to post it, but since I had to listen through and determine which primary game this would be assigned to, I also listened to the sources to then pick them out of the arrangement. Strong stuff from BKM and Manuel! YES

What did you think? Post your opinion of this ReMix.

I dig it, I just need some more substance/development. We did approve an 78-second track not too long ago, but it packed more in its shorter time due to the fast tempo, whereas this has a slower feel. This one's well in the right direction regardless, as the theme is well personalized. Nice to hear the bass register; it's such a basic texture (in a good way) and so nicely mixed that you can appreciate the part-writing and enjoy every individual instrument. Despite some occasional dropoffs, the core beat does plod for me after a while. There are so many ways to get 30-60 more seconds out of this and explore the source theme more or employ other forms of dynamic/textural contrast. Provided you were open to it, see what more you can do with this, Alexis; this is a great base. Maybe others will get behind it; if not, it wouldn't take much more to nudge it over the line. NO (resubmit)

Remixer: LXE Name: Alexis Gelinas Email: Website: instagram.com/lexadex_yo 38753 Megaman X Roll Up Armored Armadillo I was inspired by lofi hip hop and jazz reharmonizations. I used electric guitar with an octave pedal and electric piano. Alexis Gelinas

Insane sound upgrade of an already insane source. The instrumentation definitely opens sounding unsophisticated, but once the breakbeats arrive around :35, OK, I see the vision. Frankly, I didn't like moments like 1:33-1:52 where the sampled breakbeats come off sounding so much more lo-fi and lacking sharpness compared to the rest of the soundscape. Not a huge deal, just something that broke the immersion, even though this is still strong. After a few listens, I was no longer thrown off by the awkward drum timing during the 1:52-2:39 section; in order to stay centered, just don't focus on the drums, because they're not the anchor. If you focus on the lead and/or backing pad, you won't get disoriented or lose tracks of the measures. Strange stuff that initially didn't click for me, but did later on; I can respect the chaos. The dynamic contrast of a mellower (albeit busy) section here wasn't lost on me. (I also appreciated the voice sampling from "Maruyama Appears" from 2:48-3:07, both from a VGM fan perspective and from having heard that theme used in Botchamania. :-D) 3:46-4:41 was also too crowded. I'm not a fan of how the drums end up crowding out everything else, but it's at least a contrast point for this verse compared to others before it. The leads still cut through just fine, so I can still follow along with the track; this was an issue that was going on anytime the breakbeats were going wild, just moreso for the big finish. Hell of a way to expand the palette of this theme. I wouldn't call this mixing dodgy or wrong, just not ideal; that said, if the source files were kaput and this couldn't be revisited, there's absolutely no way I'd turn this away. It's mania in musical form, literally amplifying every bit of energy from the source and making it even more unorthodox. No idea what Dane may have up his sleeve in the future, but he's certainly on my radar now. DYNAMITE

Source tune's in play almost the entire way, so no need for any timestamping. Solid piano to open things up; obviously fake, but has some personality to it. I thought the claps starting at :42 were way too loud; maybe that's just one of trap's trappings, but they're louder than the lyrics. Same with the bass; balance doesn't really make sense. Such a little detail, but the vox line at :41 that padded the intro was a good piece of business, a subtle element that separates a dry track from one that's properly filled out. LOTS of good variation in the cadence, flow, and effects with the vocal delivery. Sometimes the lyrics followed the source and would double the instrumentation, oftentimes it was doing it's own thing; you can never peg what role the vocals would fill in the texture, which kept things interesting as the track unfolded. The arrangement as a whole does a great job of adapting the source to this genre; loud claps aside, this has good textural variations, creative & fitting lyrics, and strong energy throughout! I don't like the levels of the vocals being mixed this quietly relative to the instrumental, but that's my only gripe, and I can make out everything well enough. Great debut, Blujack, definitely keep 'em coming! YES

Contact Information Your ReMixer name: TonyRaccoon Your real name: Anthony Myre Your email address: Your website(s): https://youtube.com/c/tonylemur and/or https://theraccoon.me/ Your userid: 38795 Submission Information Link to MP3: Link to song on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRZeQdUxpuQ Name of game(s) arranged: Rayman Name of arrangement: Harmony in the Skies Name of individual song(s) arranged: Band Land - High Notes Additional information about game including composer, system, etc.: Playstation version of Rayman, as the PC version doesn't have music. Released in 1995. Original composer is Rémi Gazel. Link to the original soundtrack: Not sure if it was ever officially released, but here's a rip on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jkknMRk3LU Your own comments about the mix, for example the inspiration behind it, how it was made, how the source material was referenced in the arrangement, etc: I originally started this project in 2011, worked on it sporadically for a few months, and completely forgot about it until about two weeks ago. I decided to go back and give it the love it deserved, finished it up, and released it. It's not the first song I've ever made (I have a couple others on YouTube that aren't really finished) but it's definitely the first one I'd consider complete and that I'm completely happy with. Surprised to see that Rayman doesn't even have a page on OCR, so it looks like this is the first remix for it, which is surprising as that game has such catchy music. Listening back to my arrangement, I think it's pretty clear that I've been heavily influenced by Animusic. The lead synth reminds me a lot of those laser synth instruments in those videos, especially with the vibrato. I kept maybe half of the original melodies/motifs from the original and accented them with original arrangements to fill in the gaps. I'd like to think it's a good balance between being recognizable while also being a fairly novel arrangement. One of my favorite tropes in music is when two or more instruments play off of each other, repeat each other's melodies, or otherwise sync up (like the repeated C#-B-A chord played by the backing organ, piano, and lead synth around 2:25), so I tried to do that as much as I could. Lastly, I don't think I'm a particularly talented musician, I think I'm just stubborn enough to spend long enough on one song to make it sound good enough that others might enjoy it Hopefully these comments aren't too long!

Hi! I would like to submit my song, a remix of Bloody Tears from Castlevania 2: Simon's Quest, to OC Remix. My ReMixer name is Blujak. So far, this is actually the first VG theme remix I've done. I plan on doing more in the future... The name of my remix is "In My Mother's Name." I wrote, recorded, mixed and mastered this track. I imagine you already have it, but this is the version I based it off of: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2oZtvjg5oA I've been a HUGE fan of Castlevania since I was a kid. Grew up playing the series, and decided to put together my own interpretation of the classic "Bloody Tears" theme from Simon's Quest after I watched the Netflix anime. In my version, however, I wanted to add a few more elements to the mix such as vocals / lyrics - I wanted to tell the story of Alucard from his perspective; delving into the duality of his persona of being the son of Dracula, who wished vengeance on humanity, but also being the son of Lisa who wished for him to protect humanity (as in SoTN), as he wrestles with his own identity. I've always thought his story arch is fascinating, which is essentially the nexus of my remix; in the animated series, Greta beseeches him to protect the people of Danesti in his "father's house," hence one of the lines in the song and as he swears to his father at the final confrontation at the end of SoTN, he will protect them "in his mother's name." My user name is "Blujak," although I'm not sure what my user ID number is...I'm assuming it's "38557-blujak" as that is what my profile URL ends in. I've attached the master file for my remix in this email. It's in a 16 bit wav format. Let me know if there is any additional information you need from me. Also, I've included the cover art for my song as well. Looking forward to hearing back from you! Best, Blujak