Liontamer

What would there be to do about the Squenix mascots?

The piano was drowned out from :15-:27, though it was a pretty flimsy sounding sample. DarkeSax at :30 sounds decent. The bass was thumpin' and that's important, but the soundscape sounded even more cluttered and imbalanced at :45 when the sustained strings came in. They also sounded thin and flimsy. The imbalance wasn't the hugest deal, but Deia has a point that the backing e-piano chords sounded like they're distorting a little during the fullest sections. In a pretty early disappointment, :30's section was repeated again via copy-pasta at 1:15. 1:30's writing is exactly the same as :45. :'-( 1:45 provided the only variation by dropping the sax. Onto to some wholly original comping on top of the core beats. The theme returned at 2:30 with the very beginning of the source being used; good stuff there. Again, the beats were a lot louder than the source, but we'll live. Back to the copy-pasta treatment of the melody of the third time at 3:00. The only real variation between 1:00, 1:45 & 3:30 was changing or dropping a supporting instrument for 15 seconds apiece. It's definitely a bit much to repeat stuff near-wholesale like that without more substantial variations. The backing instrumentation was cool, but the sax arrangement of the source melody was arguably too straightforward & paint-by-numbers and didn't get the job done, especially given the sheer repetition without some more pronounced differences on the table. I like most of the interpretation ideas here, and it's got potential, but the current bar's higher than this these days. Less copy/pasta-ing of nearly half the length of the arrangement; develop those verses further for the second and third iterations for the win. Great start though, Deandre, this kind of arrangement approach is up our alley, let's just not get too repetitive over the long haul on it. NO (resubmit)

Ah, a source tune that's unused from the game. Just in case anyone is inclined to dismiss this arrangement too quickly as a hot mess, do compare it closely to the source, which repeats the melody ad nauseum (despite not being very melodious) and has that upward-moving bass-like backing pattern (full loop of the source finishes at :25). it might not be your cup of tea, but let this one marinate for a few listens, especially since it's brief. Given the source tune, the arrangement's dissonant and unmelodious by design; what's potentially being argued is how well the piece is designed. Interesting opening with the steel drum (kind of flimsy, but a cool sound choice) and the hand percussion. The strings at :09 were super wet, but it was an interesting approach. However, I'm not sure the backing sustained strings sounded quite right, or the mixing of everything once things picked up at :35 since the leads were obscured by everything else until 1:02. The dissonance throughout the added writing until 1:02 may have been purposeful, but it still didn't click. The way the backing writing steps up in the source tune (and it's volume relative to the lead) is much more subtle than the sustained strings here, so the arrangement version sounds super dissonant. Yeah, that opening string (arguably) part repeated too much until 1:02. I realize the source is like that, but I'm not seeing how that works when trying to construct a standalone piece. That said, the original writing from 1:02-on (with woodwind, string, and percussion source usage to accent it from 1:15-on) was pretty smart. Anyway, the whole soundscape was just oddly mixed, with different things either sounded too distant, too sparse, or too muddy and too imbalanced. I know 1:46-2:16 was meant to sound eerie, but it ended up being too muddy, obscuring the source tune a lot, the same as :35-1:02. I like the concept here; this gives a more sinister almost Castlevania-esque spin on the source, I just felt the dissonance and muddiness from :35-1:02 and 1:46-2:16 were both a bit much. I may seem like the bad guy because these both seem to be purposeful decisions, but to this extent, I think both aspects being toned down would make the piece more cohesive. The mixing was the more important of the two; even though the surrounding writing was meant to convey chaos, if that were improved so that the leads weren't buried AS much, I could potentially get behind this piece and its dissonance. It's actually more substantial and developed than I initially gave it credit for, and it would throw people for a loop. Good Halloween/scary setting stuff. Again, given how it sounds, it's easy to overlook what's actually working with this piece. I'd say adjust the mixing to not be swampy for half the piece, and perhaps lessen the dissonance, but we'll also see how the others feel. Good work so far, Jake. NO (resubmit)

Remixer name: Jake Rose Name of game arranged: Shadowgate (NES) Name of arrangement: "The Sword Is In Hand" Name of song arranged: unknown, track 13 from nsf file ------------------------------------------

:05.5-1:14, 1:31-1:58..., I stopped counting once I hit over 50% source usage. I didn't judge the last version, but the source usage was pretty straightforward and apparent for the first half, so I'm not sure what the concerns were there. It's a little bit of a difficult source to wrap one's head around (it ain't easily hummable), but it's definitely there and not too difficult to make out. Once the melody came in at :21, the mixing didn't sound ideal since the countermelody until :35 got buried. Not a huge deal, but it definitely felt like the beeps in the countermelody were mudding up there and from 1:45-1:58; it would have been better for the lead to not be obscured. The clav/organ/wuteva from :45-:55 sounded flat and lifeless. Those were the minor issues. Otherwise, a HEAVY arrangement with lots of energy and some overall strong instrumentation. A small thought, but I also loved the Eastern instruments at 2:54 for a great dynamic shift before the finish; nice touch there. Dunno what issues held this back before, but they ain't here now. Strong sauce, you two. YES

Original Decision ReMixer Name: DusK Real Name: Dustin Branscum Website: http://www.itstartsatdusk.com User ID: 24328 ReMixer Name: Dj Mokram Website: http://djmokram.bandcamp.com/ User ID: 28433 Game: Dynamite Headdy Arrangement Name: Zenpyo! Song Arranged: Ohnami Konami Platform: Sega Genesis/ Mega Drive Composer: Nazo² Unit (Katsuhiko Suzuki, Norio Hanzawa, Aki Hata, Koji Yamada and Yasuko) Release Year: 1994 Source: Original judges decision: http://ocremix.org/forums/showthread.php?t=33861 Comments (DusK): We subbed this remix to OC ReMix around the time Secret Bonus Point was released back in 2011. ; Lacking high end, bad balance on the rock side of things, etc, etc. I like to think I've grown quite a bit in my abilities since then. So I asked Dj Mokram to hook me up with a WAV of his sections, and then re-recorded all of my parts from scratch, changed up the drums a bit with better samples and such, and varied up that organ a bit so it's not always centered and fits into the mix better.I disagree with the judges about the remix being all that liberal. There are actually very few parts in the remix where the source tune isn't in there in some form. From the beginning to 1:08, it's pretty conservative, breaking off for an ethnic section which builds off of the source tune's key until 1:30. From there, it extends this sort of brief "intense moment" from the source track (heard in the YouTube video from 1:04 to 1:10) with a solo on top, jumping back into its intro motif before a breakdown, which alludes to the source in the ethnic instrumentation (which is now a bit more audible in that breakdown). After the breakdown, it remains pretty conservative until the end of the track. We really tried to mix up the source in ways that build on it rather than transform it, and I think that might have thrown a few of the judges off last time. Anyway, hope you guys enjoy. ----------------------------------------

There's a pop right at the very beginning of the track that needs to be fixed. I liked this piece before, but the way different parts were mixed too evenly in the previous version caused this to lack direction and flow. By making some of the supporting writing stay more in the background where it belonged, the progression of the song made more sense. I say this in a good way, but these revisions almost make me forget anything was ever wrong with the previous version. I thought at times the bassline could have been a bit louder and more prominent, but it's a very delicate thing, and I could easily picture how adjusting the bass could make it overpowering. The dynamic curve was relatively subtle until the slowdown transition at 3:41, so I could see some judges or listeners thinking it was a little flat or overlong until then; that said, I liked the subtle changes in energy and instrumentation for the first two-thirds and didn't feel anything was a dealbreaker there. The final section felt a bit barren, the synths were a bit plain, and the pad-style sounds seemed to muddy the soundscape a bit, but again, it wasn't a big deal and nothing was remotely in danger of being a problem with regards to the standards. Things gradually built up for a solid close. It's a low-key take, but a stylish and personalized take, on an already low-key original. Nice work, Eino. YES

Original Decision Your ReMixer name: Eino Keskitalo Your real name: Eino Keskitalo Your website: https://sites.google.com/site/evktalo/ Your userid: 20708 Name of game(s) arranged: Deus Ex (PC/Windows) Name of arrangement: Sadevakio Name of individual song(s) arranged: UNATCO (http://vgmdb.net/album/910) Link to the original soundtrack: FLAC: https://www.dropbox.com/s/5casso3w9wd00oh/eino_keskitalo-sadevakio-resub.flac Renoise project file: https://www.dropbox.com/s/dk6cgelngwv9y6v/eino_keskitalo_-_sadevakio.xrns Previous decision thread here: http://ocremix.org/forums/showthread.php?t=42906 Hi! Here's a resubmission of my UNATCO theme rearrangement. Previous submission letter stuff (thanks etc) still applies Many thanks for the excellent (& diverse!) feedback in the judging thread. I've addressed most of the issues one way or the other. Specifically: - Toned down reverbs - Cleared bass frequencies, especially in the outro - Adjusted writing in 01:12-01:30 part - Retoned lead & support instrument frequencies in places to reduce frequency clash - Much adjustment of levels - Varied up the cymbal sound - Changed some drum patterns for less busy bass drum, more busy toms - Adressed Vig's criticism about the flow of the piece by extending the middle part (with a four-to-the-floor bass drum, no less) Also: - More use of panning/width in End, also fade out some other tracks apart from the drums (as per Magellanic's suggestion from the workshop last time around) - Corrected the bell melody (kept the mistake-as-variation in places) Things I didn't do: - Change the sounds themselves (apart from layering the cymbal) - Get rid of the tempo changes Source usage of the middle part: the background melody ( ) plays throughout. The main riff plays 2:39-2:57, varied up. The bell melody playing 2:58-3:42 is based on the figure at in the source.cheers, --Eino -------------------------------------------

It was originally released as OGGs and WAVs. This updated release is MP3s and FLACs. The source tune names are also corrected to the official titles, the album art is embedded, and the files are tagged to be compatible with iTunes and portable music players. That's why.

Strong weaving of the themes. Here's all I could make out: Adrian's Asleep (Map25) - :00-1:11 lead; 1:11-1:48 support; 1:48-2:10, 2:29-2:31, 2:33-2:35, 2:40.5-2:48, 2:50-2:53 lead Shawn's Got the Shotgun (Map07) - 1:11-1:48 lead, 2:57-3:11 lead, 3:11-3:59 support Running from Evil (Map01) - 2:11-2:27 lead, 2:27-2:42 supporting Bye Bye American Pie (Map23) - 2:35-2:42.75, 4:00-4:06 lead Into Sandy's City (Map09) - 3:11-3:15.5, 3:21-3:59 lead Any other insights are appreciated. Other people's attempts at a breakdown aren't entirely clear or accurate.

The arrangement remains awesome. I could end up being a total outlier or merely outvoted, but while the dryness of the first version was gone, it was replaced with something that was mostly too muddy and wet. In some places, the mixing change helped, but all of the fullest sections generally sounded cramped with a lot of parts seemingly overlapping and mushing together (particularly :58-1:28, 1:48-2:10, 2:35-3:40, and 4:23-4:59). The entire first minute seemed good, and I was glad to hear things more fully fleshed out than the previous version. Once we hit the first fuller section at :58 though, I thought the soundscape became VERY murky and cramped. Meanwhile, the electric guitar from :58-1:28, 1:48-2:10 & 2:35-3:19 could have used a murkier sound to disguise its fakeness and give it more body/quasi-realism. Adam's violin at 2:09 was mixed better, with a wetter sound that masked any minor performance issues and blended more with the overall soundscape. The guitar at 3:41 had some swanky delay on it that made it sound great. Nice improvement on the synth at 3:54; the delay these also helped it. The soundscape was a bit swamped at things filled in more at 4:08 and then way more so from 4:23-4:59. I'm certainly not the production expert judge, but I know the gist of what I'm hearing even if I can't articulate it as well as I'd like to. In the effort to thicken up the sound, which WAS a good move, the pendulum swung too hard the other way, and now there's a lot of unnecessary mud. Once that's tweaked, we're off to the races. If this doesn't make it, DON'T give up on this. I hate when production ends up being the only big issue, because I want to see arrangements like this get posted, but wouldn't want to vote against my instincts. I'm very confident Adam can adjust things to improve it to where it should be. NO (refine/resubmit) EDIT (10/09): One other thing to note, the cymbals cut off abruptly at :52 (sounds bad) and 1:46 (not as big a deal). Anyway, I asked Adam for a revision on this and the selective volume cuts he made really exposed the guitar sample at 1:03/1:47/etc., but I'll go with it. While the soundscape of the original resub is a little too murky, IMO, the way it's mixed ultimately did a good ENOUGH job of thickening up the weaker samples and giving this a full sound, and I can make out the various parts well enough. It's a bit too unintentionally lo-fi, but we'll live. I'm not going to make the perfect the enemy of the good with these issues or Adam's further mixing tweaks, and the arrangement is super excellent, so let's go. YES (borderline)

Original Decision Formal stuff: Contact Information Your ReMixer name: jnWake. Your email address: This one... Collab ReMixer name: Argle. Submission Information Name of game(s) arranged: Final Fantasy IX. Name of arrangement: Into the Sandstorm. Name of individual song(s) arranged: Cleyra Trunk. Link to arrangement: So, here I am, giving this song a second go! When I initially submitted, I honestly wasn't convinced on its chances. It wasn't the mixing my main worry though (even if I knew it wasn't stellar), but I wasn't sure about how the judges were going to react to the arrangement. Luckily for me, the song was rejected because of the mixing and the arrangement actually received some compliments! Anyway, I then noticed that Argle was offering free mixing, and considering that he already was a collaber in this remix, it seemed like a great idea to have him mix the song, since he's much better at that than me! Main changes from the original song are (obviously) a much better mix, better samples for the drum kit, better amps for the guitar tracks and a pad in the violin section. Argle also added a much better use of reverb than my original submission, giving the mix more of an eerie feeling. Hope you like it! Old write-up: Hi, This is my second submission to the site! I originally made this track for the FFIX project but it didn't make it... Anyway, this mix is a progressive metal or something like that version of the Cleyra Trunk theme. The original is a mysterious slow paced song, while mine is a heavier and faster (but not fast) version of it. I tried to keep the eerie harmonies from the original but the mix may feel a bit liberal. Argle provides a violin section in the middle of the song. Anyway, to make judging easier I'll make a breakdown here. First, for the original Section 1 - 0:00 - 0:28 : This is the "main melody" of the song to me. I use the initial ascension (A - A - B - G) a lot in my mix. Also, the first part has A and F as low notes, which is also an element present in the mix. Section 2 - 0:29 - 0:58 : My mix has a version of the diminished arpeggios here. Section 3 - 1:49 - 1:56 : Weird descending chords! Section 4 - 1:57 - 2:24 : Some sort of arpeggios here too. And now, my mix: 0:00 - 0:58: "Eerie" intro. E. Piano plays the Section 1 notes. 0:59 - 1:25: Heavy section based on Section 4 (E. Piano again). 1:26 - 2:09: E. Piano based on Section 1 (here I use the A-F thing I mentioned there). I like the piano effect at 1:47. 2:10 - 2:34: The Argle part! The guitar part is based on Section 2. I like how the violin keeps playing when this section ends. Next section is a repeat. 2:56 - 3:17: Yet another part based on section 2 (the E. Piano plays the arpeggios). 3:18 - 3:40: Here the mix gets a bit liberal. The E. Piano is using the same motive from Section 1. 3:41 - 3:54: Finally, Section 3! Not the same chords, but same idea. 3:55 - 4:38: Synth solo. The chord progression follows the idea from Section 3. Outro is a repeat. Hope you like it! ----------------------------------

There's something that comes off too loud and imbalanced with this; the leads and beat overpower everything else, and don't lock together as well as they should with the supporting writing. It's pretty difficult to hear any details of the supporting instrumentation. With the dropoff of background elements at :52, this sounded too empty despite the volume. The core drum beat during the verses also felt too static over the long run. Well, I form lettered this in the inbox for being too muddy (and also to speed things up a bit), but this version now seems a bit too bright. Overall, I think the arrangement is OK and extended the theme decently, but the textures just don't click all the way and the drum pattern during the verses quickly got boring/complacent after a while. It's alright, and there's a lot of attention paid to various effects and instrument changes to make the theme variations not be cut-and-paste, but something feels a bit too repetitive/overlong about the arrangement, and the production possibly isn't quite as balanced as it should be. I'm initially leaning NO (resubmit), but I need a second or third opinion before I vote on this. EDIT (10/10): Shaun sent an update of his own accord: Checking out the revised version, the overall levels seemed a touch lower, but the soundscape was balance better, and I could hear more of the detail work. With the production being more solid now, I'm good to go with this. YES

Mega Man X - Zero's Theme (the one with the nasty guitar riff where he falls from the sky in the opening sequence and annihilates some poor robots) Added some slight stuttering and glitchery madness in the 2nd half for some variation. Also completely gutted the super saw synths and the orchestral strings. Cheers, ~Shaun -------------------------------

OH SNAP! Nice!

The arrangement's not bad, albeit a bit vanilla with some of the sound choices and definitely lacking in some of these flimsier textures. The layered bass kick/cymbals/clap at :45 wasn't horrible, but it was too loud while the overall texture felt sparse. Sparseness was more of a problem from 1:29-2:03; again, that super basic beat was too loud and exposed while the soundscape wasn't full due to a lack of padding. I'd also cut the fat on that extended buildup, it didn't need to be that long. Very nice original countermelodic synth writing at 2:04, followed by the softer synth at 2:13. I still think the melodic lead and bassier support writing were both too low compared to the supporting writing, but that wasn't a huge deal. The beat at 2:21 was a little meatier, but the kick was paper-thin. It just seemed that during the sections where a beat was meant to bring an added level of energy, it wasn't successful. Hopefully another J can better articulate the issues I'm having with the beats not integrating well into the piece. If that aspect was fixed up, the arrangement would be much more cohesive. The dynamic curve here was subtle, but had some good moments, but the weakness of the beats within otherwise sparse sections added up to a NO for now. It's got great potential though, Scott. NO (resubmit)

Heres all the info I think you need. ReMixer name: beatbell Real Name: Scott Campbell e-mail address: Userid: not sure Name of Game: Donkey Kong Country Name of Arrangment: "I'm in an Ice Cave" Song: "Ice Cave Chant" Thanks for listening! Scott Campbell ------------------

Opened up OK with a good cover of the clock-tick intro. Moved over into "Chrono Trigger" at :27. Not sure about the balance between the string lead at the percussion at :51; I would have pulled the percussion back compared to the lead. Other supporting writing like the pizz strings are pretty buried as a result. 1:58-2:27 was a nice rise in the energy level, but the soundscape was still very muddy. 2:40's lead & percussion writing sounded like a cut-and-paste of :51's section, with some slightly different things going on in the background. The supporting writing still sounded too indistinct as well. Also of note, the percussion writing was more sophisticated here than in your Zeal arrangement, but you're still putting your patterns on cruise control. 3:46-4:15 was another cut-and-paste, this time of 1:58-2:27, before heading into source tune's famous resolution and ending with the fading clock pendulum. With less mud and better balance among the parts, this would sound much more cohesive. If 2:40-4:15 hadn't been cut-and-pasted so simply and more substantial variations had been explored, I could be more in favor of this. That and the murky, imbalanced soundscape added up to a NO for me, even though Benjamín (yet again) had an overal enjoyable piece here. It just falls outside the standards a bit on the level of interpretation and development in the arrangement as well as the lack of clarity in the mixing. Would love to hear this developed a bit more in the second half and properly mixed throughout. It's not far from the mark, but the issues gauged against our specific standards add up. NO (resubmit)

ReMixer name: Benjaipod real name: Benjamín Watkins email address: website: https://soundcloud.com/benjaipod userid: 51950 Name of game: Chrono Trigger Name of arrangement: Time Stopper Batucada Name of individual song: Chrono Trigger Introduction theme Link to the original soundtrack: Adittional Information: As you may know, the composer of Chrono Trigger is Yasunori Mitsuda, i'm a big fan of his work. Comments: What if there is a Chrono Trigger movie? That's what i was thinking when i created this remix, i wanted to keep the escence of the song but make it powerful. I created a strong "batucada", "trashy" rythm, and started playing with it. finally i had this strong and powerful version of this awesome song. It really sound like a movie trailer for me. I hope you like it

The soundscape sounded a bit too distant, IMO, but it wasn't anything that negatively affected the decision. The arrangement, while conservative, did sound personalized via the layered performances. The introduction of the doubled lead at 2:05 was definitely needed late in the game to provide something fresh. The auto-pilot percussion was the weak point here, sounding robotically timed and extremely repetitive compared to the guitar work. I may be an outlier, because I likes the track in a vacuum, and I like sufficiently personalized, stylish covers, but this felt like the drums being on auto-pilot left the track feeling lazy and a bit too underdeveloped. Again, I like the track, but why have the drums robotically repeat like that when you can subtly vary them throughout the piece and better compliment the guitar work? It's a nice, smooth piece, Benjamín, but don't be complacent with the writing of such a critical background element. The percussion pattern isn't cool or creative enough to merit 3 minutes of non-stop repetition. But if the percussion writing becomes a bit more varied while still flowing well with the guitar performances, this could be a pass in my opinion. NO (resubmit)

ReMixer name: Benjaipod real name: Benjamín Watkins email address: website: https://soundcloud.com/benjaipod userid: 51950 Name of game: Chrono Trigger Name of arrangement: Zeal Palace, Acoustic Arrangement Name of individual song: Corridors of time Additional information about game: SNES game, original composer: Yasunori Mitsuda Link to the original soundtrack Comments: I recorded this like 3 months ago, I know, and i am aware that this is really close to the original ost, but i wanted to introduce a new concept for this song. I think that an acoustic version suits perfectly to the style. I used the latin percusion expansion of Ezdrummer, Cubase 5, some strings samples and 3 or 4 acoustic guitars, played by me. I don't know if this is what you are looking for in OCremix, but is worth the try. ---------------------------------------

The mixing here was pretty muddy. Not sure how it ended up that way, but it basically jacked up the piece at times. 1:07-2:07 was a loud, swamped up mess. Wrong note at 2:16. More cramped textures from 3:47-4:47. I felt bad for Nathalie's violin, which was a strong contribution, but was usually competing to be heard with everything else instead of standing out more. The layered clap sound was also pretty weak despite being way too loud. There were some good arrangement ideas, but short and sweet, these instrument textures were almost never cohesive, either because the beat choices were weak or more importantly, things were poorly mixed and didn't occupy the proper space when the soundscape was at its fullest. The arrangement is creative & fun and has promise, but the production could use another pass to fully realize the potential here. NO (resubmit)

If it passed, we'd need a more unique track name than "Source Tune (Artist Mix)" - LT Producer name: MEZ Real Names: Graham Gomez Soundcloud: soundcloud.com/mez-music-1 Submission: Game: Mario Kart 64 Track Name: Rainbow Road - MEZ Remix Original Track: Rainbow Road While the melody is specifically from Rainbow Road in Mario Kart 64, this track for me was meant to embody the whole feeling of nostalgia for my childhood days. SONG LINK: RAINBOW ROAD - MEZ REMIX Thank you for considering my submission! MEZ -----------------------------------------

The melodic interpretation of the source was personalized well and the glitch approach was interesting. This a really cool concept here, but that core beat & clap pattern was just too repetitive. Even Devo's "Satisfaction" would have some brief dropoffs here and there (plus its usage of vocals allowed for other kinds of rhythmic and dynamic shifts, which this lacked in comparison). Employing some brief variations and dropoffs in the groove would help this not sound too static in the long-run. The rest was weird, certainly, but I could get behind this with some tweaks to the beat pattern over the course of the 3 1/2 minutes. NO (resubmit)

1) Remixer Name- Bob-omb and The Bullet Bills 2) D L 1) Game Being Arranged- Super Mario Bros 2) Name Of Arrangement- It's a Series Of Tubes! 3) Name Of Arranged Song- Underground Theme 4) Original Composer- Koji Kondo 5) Why is so much of the Nintenocore scene focused on Metal? I love the idea of Glitch merging with many genres, but why so much Metal? We'll rather than complain I got to doin, and tried for a simple Rock(maybe Punk)/Glitch. I was channeling the spirit of Devo (specifically "Satisfaction") here and not trying to have a strong hook, just a catchy cacophony of Mario music (we all know the Underground Theme, what more could I add?) I wanted to have a train wreck style can't-take-my-ears-off-how-disjointed-it-is-but-I-want-to-keep-listening sound. IDK, maybe I just made a wreck. 6) I'm concerned the Attachment didn't work, here is the Youtube(Dan2227) link 3:51 -----------------------------------