Liontamer

MAGFest 8.5 Fri. September 12 - Sun. September 14, 2014 Alexandria, VA - Hilton Alexandria Mark Center http://magfest.org OC ReMix: Arranging (and Fanboying Over) Video Game Music Since 1999! Saturday, Sept. 13, 2014, 11:30AM-1PM, Panels 1 Panelists: djpretzel Arrow DarkeSword José the Bronx Rican Level 99 Liontamer --------------------------- Already locked in.

The arrangement's still on point, and I broke it down last time, so I didn't feel the need to elaborate on it. Not that this is bad, but I was probably too nice the first time around. I definitely hear the changes made, but the cohesion isn't there in terms of the textures, mainly IMO because the snare pattern plods. The drumkit sounded pretty flimsy on the whole, and there were portions where the snare pattern felt plodding with the rest of the track seeming empty, e.g. 1:47-2:00, 2:21-2:38. :47 or 1:11 would have been a good place to add some easy variation the drum pattern; in other words, doing it earlier than 1:36. The guitar at :23 lacked bite & presence compared to the percussion. Maybe have it enter louder and then drop it back to the level it's currently at from :35-on when the lead guitar arrives. In any case, making the percussion sound more powerful and less static & plodding would both help in lifting this up to where it needs to be. Don't be discouraged. It might not be able to pass, but it IS a promising track. See if you can further improve it, but if you'd rather move on, you've already shown you know how to get tracks passed, and this shouldn't drag you down. NO (resubmit)

1st RESUB: http://ocremix.org/forums/showthread.php?t=43650 Original Decision: http://ocremix.org/forums/showthread.php?t=42476 Your ReMixer name: Ivan Hakštok Your e-mail address: Your userid: 43292 Name of game(s) arranged: Chrono Cross Name of arrangement: Under Cerulean Skies Name of individual song(s) arranged: Another Termina Link to the original soundtrack: Your own comments about the mix: This mix was rejected a few weeks ago, the old decision thread is here, the source breakdown is also in there: http://ocremix.org/forums/showthread.php?t=43650 I re-recorded the guitars, and changed some stuff with the mixing. The out-of-tune bell synth was somehow caused by FM synthesis. It didn't bother me as much as the judges but I went and replaced the sound with something more simple ------------------------------------------

I've added to my original vote up top to close this out. Sorry for the long wait, Sean. It's a cool piece, but at the end of the day, it needs much more clear usage of the original NieR source tune for it to have a chance at being approved. If there is any sort of explicit A-to-B connection from the NieR soundtrack to "Pale Moonlight" that we all missed, please let us know and we can reassess this one. It sounds like it would be too difficult a piece to resubmit, with it being live, but we'd love to hear a resubmission of this if those stars aligned or a new submission. This decision's definitely not a knock on your abilities. Your talent and skill are very obvious, for sure.

The stereo separation in the headphones was too wide, IMO, but I'll live. The live performances were awesome. We've had sub 2-minute arrangements pass before, so it's not that it's impossible, but one of the important aspects of that is not having much repetition in such a short time. This was a short and sweet track, but I didn't feel there was enough variation for the parts that repeated, so the arrangement felt underdeveloped beyond this excellent genre adaptation: Verse - :05-:20, :35-:50, 1:25-1:40 Bridge - :20-:27, 1:10-1:17 Chorus - :27-:35, 1:17-1:25 For each of those sections, especially the main verse, just some sort of further melodic or rhythmic variation of the lead, changing a note here or there could made the presentation feel less repetitive. Shit, I hate to reject Taika. His OC ReMix on the site is cool (and got better with age for me), and I like hearing another dimension of his style along with Anniina, because this is a sweet, fun cover. I suggested he should consider sending this in on the Tweeter account (not that it would necessarily pass, but it was a good piece to submit). I definitely hope Jaakko would be willing to submit something else in the future, because we absolutely love material like this, but for the arrangement standards here, the arrangement would need to be developed or evolve further. I'm not saying it has to be longer, but it would need a lot more variation from verse to verse and chorus to chorus in order to pass it. NO (resubmit)

Hi! Here's the info (text and the link at the bottom): Contact Information Your ReMixer name: Taika Your real name: Jaakko Saarenketo Your email address: Your website: www.twitter.com/jsaarenk Your userid (number, not name) on our forums, found by viewing your forum profile e.g. djpretzel (http://ocremix.org/forums/member.php?u=1) has the userid of "1" 10489 Submission Information Name of game(s) arranged: Angry Birds Name of arrangement: Feathers on Fire Name of individual song(s) arranged: Angry Birds Main Theme (…I guess) Additional information about game including composer, system, etc. (if it has not yet been added to the site) Composed by Ari Pulkkinen for iOS & multiple devices Link to the original soundtrack (if it is not one of the sound archives already available on the site) Your own comments about the mix, for example the inspiration behind it, how it was made, etc. Hi OCRemix! It's been almost 9 years since my last remix but I've always kept my eye and ear on the community. Huge respect - especially the FF6 project! Here's Feathers on Fire. It's an live recording of Angry Birds theme with a hot, gypsy-jazz/folk style arrangement. I'm (Jaakko Saarenketo) playing the nylon stringed guitar and my friend Anniina Poikela plays the violin. This was played live on the radio to promote an acoustic open stage event in Rovaniemi's concert hall Korundi. The arrangement went through couple iterations. I left out some stuff from the source tune and kept the parts I consider iconic. Some parts are changed, but judging by reactions of all the children that have listened to this, it's still Angry Birds Hope you like it! ---------------------------------------

The opening clap beat was pretty vanilla and tame. It really needs some more meat on the bones instead of sounding so dry and upfront. The pattern's also too repetitive. Even with the rhythmic change-up at :59, it's a very static sound that doesn't lend any movement or energy to the piece. The dynamics of the piece feel really flat, like the track never gets out of first gear. On the plus side, I loved the sitar part brought in at :59 and later again at 1:44. It didn't stand out as much as a background when it first arrived, but when it was alone at 2:14, I loved the different sound it gave to the piece compared to the other leads before. The source tune's there in spades, but the core groove needs more variation in not just the rhythm, but the sound. I'm all for subtle dynamic contrast as well, and this piece does have that to some degree, but core beats sounds so samey over the long haul that it undermines the other changes in instrumentation during the mix. Hopefully another J can offer some better, more targeted and articulate feedback, because Forrest is a good arranger. I think he can get it where it needs to be with some more TLC if he's willing to take another stab at this. NO (resubmit)

CLICK HERE to download mp3 of Rainbow Tour Bus Contact Information Forrest Fire Forrest Shamlian www.J1studios.com (Company Website) 49563 Submission Information Mario Kart 64 (Nintendo 64) Rainbow Tour Bus Rainbow Road Original Composer: Kenta Nagata Youtube: Mario Kart 64 - Rainbow Road Mario Kart 64 holds memories of childhood holidays with cousins, group recreation in college, and a drinking game among friends. Rainbow Road, as difficult as it may be, had the most memorable music. It's upbeat, encouraging, a little cartoon-ey, and simply a staple piece of music that represents good times with good friends. My thought for Rainbow Tour Bus was, "Hey, what if you could actually visit rainbow road with your buddies and take a leisurely tour bus ride through the colorful course in outer space? Would that not be the most magical and psychedelic experience of your life?". This song is what I imagine you might hear on that bus ride. --------------------------------

I purposefully didn't say, but all 3 steps are already in motion. Anastasia isn't involved, no.

Nah, that was me. I hope you enjoyed that brush with greatness of reading an approved mix thread before it was posted.

Nice airy opening to the track. I actually liked it less when the low line came in at :16, because it disturbed the serenity of the opening, though that's neither here nor there. When the original synth line on top at :47 arrived, I felt like the soundscape immediately became a lot muddier and the kicks in particular were mudding up the soundfield until 1:19. Whatever happened there should have been tweaked, IMO, to give everything room to breathe. The same goes for every section where Zero theme plays in conjunction with something else; there's needless crowding occurring. Too bad the soundscape wasn't less cramped during those densest sections. That said, this was an otherwise strong arrangement that set an excellent mood. YES

We got ya. We've already been working on it. But I appreciate the kick in the pants, since maybe it'll make some other judges devote some more time.

Piece. Which isn't there anymore. But no, it doesn't. But the reason it doesn't is because I've been around here long enough to see the wait time of the inbox be 0, so we'll get it much closer to that. We have more submissions than ever. Part of the backlog involves more submissions by talented people, and fewer MIDI rips and very poor submissions. So even though quantity-wise we're on pace to post as many mixes as last year (which was the 2nd highest ever), we've still got a lot in the hopper because a higher ratio of submissions are being approved among the higher amount being sent in. We've got some good people who will be rising to the occasion to get us back on track though, and I'll be putting more time in as well.

We're definitely not doing extra tiers of judging. That said, I'm not worried about catching things up. We'll pick it up soon.

Clearly, we LOVE the wait time being that long. We're working on two different things to improve the wait time. Also, any resubmitted piece gets added back to the queue when it's sent in, it bypasses the normal queue.

Yep, those lazy Js should have noticed that direct sampling and pointed it out. That said, you're right that it's not a standards violation. You're allowed to directly sample the original audio, but on an arrangement level, the modifications made to it have to be substantial. Dj CUTMAN's MiG-29 mix (http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR02882) is an even better example of a heavy-direct sampling approach that nonetheless works on an interpretive arrangement level. In this case, I wouldn't object to a judge NOing on the changes for this mix not being enough in the big picture, but I also don't have a problem with anyone going YES or I would have challenged it.

We go by box art, not title screen. But if you search with the 's, it'll come up. By the way, folks, it's worth noting that the breakdown Wake included in the album notes is pretty accurate, i.e. at nearly any point in the arrangement, there's at least 1 source in play; pretty impressive for 8+ minutes!

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

OC ReMix Presents Futebol Arte: World Cup Tribute EP! June 30, 2014 Contact: press@ocremix.org FAIRFAX, VA...OverClocked ReMix pays homage to the action of the 2014 World Cup with our latest album, Futebol Arte: World Cup Tribute EP!! Honoring the world's most popular sport during its biggest global gathering, Futebol Arte: World Cup Tribute EP features seven arrangements of themes from a diverse group of international football games! Led by Croatian director Ivan Hakštok, Futebol Arte is available for free download at http://ocremix.org/info/Futebol_Arte:_World_Cup_Tribute_EP. This album was produced to help promote video game music and soccer video games, was made by fans, for fans, and is not affiliated with or endorsed by any of the publishers or developers of the original games; all original compositions are copyright their respective owners. Seven artists collaborated on all-new tributes to a host of soccer games never before given the OC ReMix treatment, including: Tehkan World Cup Mario Strikers Charged Pro Evolution Soccer 3 (World Soccer Winning Eleven 7 International) Mega Man Soccer Battle Soccer 2 Kunio Kun no Nekketsu Soccer League Inazuma Eleven. "As a big fan of football/soccer/fussball/futebol/nogomet/whatever-you-call-it, I thought it would be nice to pay a musical tribute to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil," said album director Ivan Hakštok. "Football/soccer games are a bit underrepresented as far as remixing is concerned, even though they have lots of really good soundtracks, and I hope this album will help remedy that a bit. This album features seven tracks and seven artists, maybe not enough to fit a football team of eleven players, but enough to rock." About OverClocked ReMix Founded in 1999, OverClocked ReMix is an organization dedicated to the appreciation and promotion of video game music as an art form. Its primary focus is ocremix.org, a website featuring thousands of free fan arrangements, information on game music and composers, resources for aspiring artists, and a thriving community of video game music fans. ### Preview it: Download it: http://ocremix.org/info/Futebol_Arte:_World_Cup_Tribute_EP Torrent: http://bt.ocremix.org/torrents/Futebol_Arte_-_World_Cup_Tribute_EP.torrent Comments/Reviews: http://ocremix.org/forums/showthread.php?t=47302

Preview it: http://www.youtube.com/embed/JM47ljYcWJY Download it: http://ocremix.org/info/Futebol_Arte:_World_Cup_Tribute_EP Torrent: http://bt.ocremix.org/torrents/Futebol_Arte_-_World_Cup_Tribute_EP.torrent

We gonna be on!

If there are comments from different places, I usually end up synthesizing them anyway into the album notes, so I wouldn't worry about it either way.

SGC is awesome. That is all.

As long as it uses the original song for the majority of the track, that's cool. It DOESN'T matter if you refer to just one portion of the source tune most of or the entire time, as long as the arrangement itself is sufficiently creative and developed. Notice, I rejected it for not using more of the source tune back then. We all make mistakes.

I'm definitely glad dropping it didn't happen.