Liontamer   Judges ⚖️

Contact Information: ReMixer: Kc1336 Real name: Case Portman User ID: 49824 Submission Information: Game: Sonic & Knuckles Arrangement Name: Tranquil Reef Original Song name: Lava Reef Source: Comments: The Lava Reef track from this game has always hit a soft spot in me. When first listening to the track I instantly fell in love with it and, to this day, is still one of my favourite tracks pulled from any Sonic the Hedgehog soundtrack. The inspiration of this remix/arrangement came from a pianist named Isaac Shepard, which at the time I was trying to develop a sound inspired by his beautiful piano playing. After many hours of playing tracks I'd previously learned from video games in the style of his, I accidentally stumbled across a few chords and a melody that sounded very familiar, Lava Reef! From then to now, here is the finished product.

Pretty stock trance opening with some very scant references to the source. Practically nothing from the source until 1:49. Nothing wrong with that approach as long as most of the arrangement uses the source tune, which it comes close to doing (but doesn't because of the long open & close and the gap of original material from 3:24-3:51). You're going to need to incorporate some more Zelda in the intro or outro, though drastically cutting those down would also ensure more than 50% of the arrangement refers to the source tune. The arrangement ended up being a somewhat by-the-numbers club trance adaptation. Doing anything else melodically with it would have been welcome. Mixing-wise, when the source melody was in play, it didn't standout in the foreground, instead competing among the other synths and muddy effects going on from 2:10-3:07. 2:40-3:07 was the most poorly mixed area, with a lot of parts occupying the same frequency range, and thus stepping over each other. The plucked strings from 3:07-3:19 were extremely fake, but couched well enough behing other parts to not expose them too much and contribute a good sound to things. 3:24 had some decent original writing ideas, before going back to the source at 3:51. I liked the original writing added in from 4:04-4:18. The big thumping beat is cool in principle, but got tired over the long haul. Most of the time, it's either THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP at one volume or nothing at all. The others beats are quiet enough that they don't really contribute much. Creatively employ some variation with the intensity of layered, supporting beats or at least something to spice it up. After the wind-down at 4:52, the song really needed to have ended ay 5:19, and the wind-down took way too long. I get the purpose of it, and I'm fine with it within reason for a standalone track. FFmusic Dj employed the same kind of build and finish, though his were shorter and more substantive than this. IMO, the melodic arrangement needs to be more creative and less plain, you need to re-EQ some of the middle sections for clarity, and you have to cut down the intro and outro before this would have a shot. It's not a horrible track or anything, but it lacks mixing polish and the arrangement is too basic, even though it's going in the right direction. NO

Name: JT Real Name: Jeff Barnes E-mail: Website: http://soundcloud.com/user4393066 Forum User ID: 48201 Name of Game: Zelda Ocarina Of Time Name of Arrangement: JT Club Mix Name of Song: Lost In The Woods Source for the track and remix was my brain. Remix was inspired by loved ones, friends, and my general love for music.

Good energy, great use of the NES sounds. Short and sweet, it's a straightforward treatment of the melody, but a super-personalized and well-produced spin on it. Awesomeness. YES

There's nothing more sex style than Flexstyle! ...said no one! Seriously though, glad to see this one join the club. Funky original and a powerful take on it.

In the middle of contacting Brandon about tweaking another mix, he mentioned the possibility of tweaking the production of this one, since it had been a while since he finished it. I sent him the vote so far, and he hit me back quickly with an update, which is also in the first post. So while this is definitely an improvement, :57-1:31 and 2:07-2:42 were still just a tangled mess of noise to me, and 1:49-2:07, while not quite as problematic, still sounded very cluttered with too many elements competing with each other. I know for the World Warrior Remix Royale, the Chun-Li integration was required for the compo format, but the track would just be better without it entirely. It's not integrated without care, but the end result of it just feels like clutter, not synergy. All in all, I wish I could change my vote, but I still think the mixing's preventing me from passing it. That said, Vig's on board, so maybe I'm the grandpa for this one. Good luck with the rest of the vote, Brandon.

Mokram, don't you dare be self-deprecating about this decision, my friend. Collectively, we're really enjoying this track, and that should be apparent from the vote. It just needs some tweaks, and we can re-vote on this quickly. You definitely have what it takes to get this passed. We're all in your corner.

The phase-y voluminous electronicus thingy thing. That thingy. [ The lead first used at :15. ]

Awesome; after requesting a submission of this last night, I'm very glad Michael was down to submit this! Thanks again to the Cryamore Twitter for putting this in my sights. Onto the observations and crits, the snare drum felt too placeholder-ish in the long run, but it had a good tone to it and it wasn't a big deal in the big picture. Great change in the dynamics at 1:07. It's a not a criticism, but I definitely could have gone for that section lasting longer than 1:29, as it sounded sweet. 1:51's section being a copy-pasta of :24's was a letdown, as there was the chance to provide some subtle variation for the close, rather than waiting until 2:14 for the finish. If the arrangement weren't so on point otherwise with the level of interpretation and the production quality wasn't so solid, it could be more bothersome. The energy and personalization in this arrangement is rockin'. The drums being less on auto-pilot, and some further variation for the second verse at 1:51 would enhance this, but in weighing what work vs. what could be criticized, it's clear to me way more of this works. Like I said on YouTube from the OCR account, this really feels like something you could hear from an official arrange album. The music Aivi's released so far sounds amazing, and this was a sweet take on it, Michael. YES

I asked for Garoad to submit this after Cryamore's Twitter included us in a tweet about it. Since Cryamore's set to drop soon, I wanted to have this on deck, if it passes. - LT Contact Information: Remixer Name: Garoad Real Name: Michael Kelly Submission Information: Game Arranged: Cryamore Name of Arrangement: 'A True Pioneer' Name of Song Arranged: CRYAMORE! (Main Theme) Original Composer - Aivi Tran Hi, everyone! First, let me give a big thanks to Aivi for giving me permission to do an arrangement of her wonderful track (which you can find here: ). Cryamore is a game currently in development that I'm very excited about. If you haven't already, PLEASE make sure to check it out! Blog: http://cryamore.tumblr.com This was a great learning experience that I hope somewhat flatters the original. I hope you enjoy! Thanks again for the opportunity. I'm eager to see what the judges think!

Damn, I KNOW, right? You're killing me, Tarc! That intro was hot. Again, it's not that you didn't do ANYTHING to personalize this apart from the original. You did. It's just that there wasn't enough of it. When most of the arrangement is basically at the same tempo, rhythm and mood of the original, you've gotta do more to make it yours than the instrument adaptation and some flourishes. The supporting writing WAS there, but it didn't significantly modify the feel of this piano arrangement compared to the feel of the original. It's a swank cover, it's just too conservative of a treatment for us, overall. With that said, I'm comfortable choosing to go NO.

Emphasis added. On both counts, this is where we're bumping into trouble. This is just too stripped down; it's certainly using the progression, but as Fishy said to me, "the progression could be anything, without the other parts [of the source]." We ALL know what this is alluding to in context, but that's too minimal of a usage of Starman. Even for legal purposes, like if Koji Kondo wanted to sue you ( ), he wouldn't have the grounds to. For all intents and purposes, this is an original song, so we don't need a third vote on it. NO Override You need more than only the chords to connect the arrangement to the original, otherwise, it could be referring to ANYTHING. Perhaps consider adding some elements of "Powerful Mario" from Yoshi's Island/Mario 64 fame, or just see how else you can subtly add the other parts of the core Starman theme. Source usage issues aside, this was a really cool track, and well put together. If you incorporated the Starman theme more overtly into this (and it doesn't have to be as a loud lead, it can be the light piano or another subtle instrument), this could totally pass, Daniel, so don't take the rejection as a reflection of either your skills OR the quality of this piece. Definitely don't hesitate to submit something else, your sound is excellent.

Though I get that this is meant to have a throwback feel of sorts, some of the sounds felt kind of bland and unexpressive, and the mixing wasn't where it needed to be. I'm feeling the concept, and up until 1:12, I was on board. Then we hit the first brief instance of parts competing with each other, and really hit a snag at 2:00. When more elements are added from 1:20-1:31 and 2:00-2:25, the lead was flat in comparison, and the textures seemed busy, unbalanced, and unfocused. I LIKE the supporting writing ideas, but some of those parts need to be EQed so they're not stepping on the lead. Quiet, but clever usage of the source's countermelody (:21 of the source) at 1:40. Interesting transitions from 3/4 to 4/4 and back to 3/4. 3:14's section also just seems muddy with the flat lead and the supporting synths bleeding into each other. I could be articulating the issue about the leads incorrectly, so I'm hoping a J more savy on production can clarify what's going on here. To me, the arrangement's creative, but the mixing and expressiveness of the leads needs to be improved before this is ready. I loved your Castlevania 64 sub, so definitely don't be discouraged here, I think you're doing some good work overall. This one has potential, and the arrangement is in the right direction. NO (resubmit)

Your ReMixer name: Eino Keskitalo Your real name: Eino Keskitalo Your email address: 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: Your own comments about the mix, for example the inspiration behind it, how it was made, etc: This piece is a part of the PC ReMix initative (http://ocremix.org/forums/showthread.php?t=38300). Here's another People's Remixing Competition piece from me. I started this one way back in PRC199 which was a very popular round. I've since extended the structure and spent hours and hours tuning the arrangement, mixing and effect automation in Renoise. To get started in the competition, I grabbed Mazedude's Zombie's Ate My Tracker for the sounds - he has the .IT file available on the American Album site. Thanks for that! Many of the samples are actually 8-bit samples from various old school modules, which I took as a challenge to make them sound good. After hours and hours of (very educational) tweaking, twisting and polishing, I'm not sure if I'd do such a challenge again. I like the resulting tracker aesthetic, hope it works to other ears as well. The title "Sadevakio" is Finnish for something like "The Rain Constant", trying to make some sort of a wordplay how it's always raining in cyberpunk settings. Source usage: The main riff from the source is used practically throughout, altered to 3/4 in the intro and outro, and transposed lower in the middle 4/4 part. The melody at 0:23 in the source ( ) is used from 1:40 onwards pretty much to the end (where it's altered to 3/4). Also the figure at 0:31 in the source ( ) is used here and there, usually at an end of a part or some other transition/breakpoint (for example at 00:35, 01:58 and 02:18.. that might be all the cases actually).I couldn't quite make out how the main riff goes in the source, so I used the MIDI provided for the compo. It actually had the riff a fifth lower than it should be. Big thanks to Gario for pointing this out during the competition. I was slow to react to the intel though, and had already extended the melody and written countermelodies.. and correcting the riff messed them up. So, I decided to add a part (the intro) with correct pitch and consider the "wrong" pitch a personalisation of the source, if an unintended one. And now that I listen to the source, I probably heard the 0:31 bit wrong too. Oh well. A thank-you list: All the commenters from PRC199. All the workshop forum commenters. DjMorkam and Pleiade for supportive feedback. Gario for noting the source/MIDI disrepancy + workshop mod review. Rozovian for the workshop mod review. (Gotta love the workshop mod reviews. Extremely useful service.) My fiancée Pirjo for support, critiques and insights once again invaluable to me and for the development of this piece. The Renoise project file if there's anyone with Renoise & interest: And thaat's it. Enjoy! --Eino - better video of source

Short and sweet. You're winning the loudness war. Dude, TURN THIS DOWN. This is too loud AND too cluttered. It was OK enough until :39-1:32 when it got busier. Same problems with 2:07-2:42. When the Chun-Li parts are involved, the soundscape's even more crowded. Seemingly very sloppy integration of the plucked strings at 3:17; you can't hear them well, and the writing of the part had no synergy with the Guile theme. I could hear the Schala part in theory, but it didn't sound like it on account of the other parts stepping all over it and basically distorting what could be heard. Could be the mixing more than the writing. Until the mixing and EQing is fixed, this is always going to sound messy and imbalanced. I'll leave it to the experts to break it down further, but once you take another pass at this, you should hopefully be able to get it where this needs to be. NO (resubmit)

Brandon Strader www.bstrader.net Inmate #3123 Game: Street Fighter 2 Source: Guile's Theme / Chun-Li Theme / Schala's Theme Guile: Chun-Li: Schala: (0:00 to 0:03 only lol)Title: Murkan Supreme Remix: So you've got Guile's theme until 0:57, then it's a crazy mashup of both Guile and Chun-Li (you can hear Chun-Li in the shamisen and koto, later in the synthy shamisen, not to mention the progression) 1:32 is one of the Guile progressions but with the Chun-Li shamisen and koto, also some Schala hidden in there at the end of a shamisen phrase. Same progression from that Schala song too (Who'd a thunk it, Guile and Schala would go together?) 2:07 has Guile in the lead techno synth, it's actually the same exact thing as the intro organ except without the "power chord" type chords, it's just the melody part. Then 2:43 is Guile. 3:17 is actually a heavy version of the main riff from "The Last Schala Mix Ever", which is really cool, but it also has Guile in it, and Chun-Li shamisen stuff. Ah the melodies are all over the place and it goes throughout the song, there's a lot of personalization and original writing I guess but it's all literally caked with source stuff... anyway that's the source breakdown, now onto my tiny, tiny mix notes. Mix Notes; Round 1 entry for the Street Fighter contest thing. Huge thanks to Sixto for re-amping the guitars for me at the last second cause my stuff is all messed up. *_* Didn't really set out with a goal in mind apart from making it rock, happened across a bit of a "techno metal" area with the synths and really liked it, and everything just fell into place very nicely. Ugh I also put Schala in this mix too. Why do I keep doing it?

Pretty good for a first attempt at a remix. Just some quick observations to hopefully help you continue to improve. The piano sounded too thin, and the sequencing sounds too mechanical. You need a warmer, more realistic sound to that piano. Right now, it significantly drags the arrangement down, because it sounds too stiff and inhuman. The way the beats faded in around :11 was really sweet; nice work there. The way this was mixed, the leads sounded distant. Not sure if that was intentional, but it makes the sound feel like it's unintentionally not upfront enough. The beat pattern from 1:42-2:38 was too repetitive over the long haul. See what you can do to introduce some subtle variations earlier so the song doesn't drag out. You did a decent job personalizing your arrangement approach. This needs some additional attention to details (piano, mixing, beats) to better realize the potential here. Just being honest, you might be too early in your skill level to improve this where it needs to be to pass. That's not meant as an insult; give it an honest attempt and see how far you can take this, and use the Workshop area to solicit advice and feedback. NO

ReMixer Name: Mawnz Real name : Måns Åberg Email: website: http://soundcloud.com/mansaberg user id: 50327 Name of game: The Legend of Zelda: Adventure of Link Arrangement name: Palace of Haste Name of song arranged: Palace theme My own comments: My first remix of any kind. Also my first drum n bass attempt. The reason why I decided to remix this song? I don't really remember, but I think it just popped up in my head or something... Also, I like piano :3

Sounds cool! It's close, but it's personalized well. However, while it doesn't repeat, it's a slow-tempo piece that's essentially over & done in 90 seconds, and it isn't a fully developed arrangement. The point's debatable, but I'd argue our first Touhou ReMix by Justus Johnston really set the bar as far as creating a sub-2:00 piece that has a solid beginning, middle, and end. Select Start's Frog mix also shows you how it's done, though that's a faster tempo, so they could fit more substance into it. BTW, 128kbps?!? This ain't 2002, son! 192kbps or VBR1. Thems the rules. Short and sweet, this is an awesome start to a concept that isn't fully realized. I don't have any doubts that you know what you're doing as far arrangement and production. If you're willing to explore this arrangement further, it would likely have a home here. Give it a shot. NO (resubmit)

Remixer name: Forrest Real name: Christopher Forrest Powell Email: Website: www.forrestpowell.com (long overdue for an update) User ID: 49388 Game: Secret of Mana Arrangement title: Elinee Song arranged: Phoenix and a Rose Hello there! I found out about OCRemix from a friend and got involved in arranging a track for Balance and Ruin. Have posted a bit and listened to lots of tracks, but as of yet I've not submitted any songs. So, here's my first. When I was in my early teens, I loved this song, and it stood out as one that hasn't really seen a lot of attention from remixers, maybe since it is pretty short and to the point. I opted for a sort of Thomas Newman approach with the strings and pads, and really had a great time arranging this on a day off from work early in the week. The crescendo and then the immediate quiet of this song was something that always caught my attention. It was one of the earlier SNES titles that I noticed had a strong sense of dynamics and space, which I'm still learning how to achieve in writing. Since my website is still sort of under construction, I'm attaching the file. Thanks for reviewing it! Can you let me know if this is too close to the original from Secret of Mana, or if it's okay to have something that's loyal and to the point, with a bit of embellishment like I did here? Criticism (or complete abject praise) is totally welcome! Also, if there are tracks that are in demand that you think my style fits, I'm always up for putting something new together and maybe collaboration. Cheers, Forrest

The arrangement's creative, but everything's hampered by this mechanical sound of the piano. Things started off nice and airy, but anything fuller than that was immediately exposed. Once this got uptempo at 1:32, the issues were even more pronounced and the timing sounded extremely mechanical. Piano of this sound quality's generally not acceptable. Right now, it's "Stiff Winds of Antiquity." It's too stilted and unexpressive, and it undermines the energy of the composition, as much as the effort is there. Also there were some sour notes from 2:01-2:03 and 2:07-2:10 that were awkward. Then weird notes for the left hand part from 2:19-2:21 and 2:23. It's good that delay and effects were used to try to fill out the soundscape, but everything sounded pretty distant and lossy as soon as the lower registers got involved; something's muddying up the whole sound. Gotta give this more TLC. Piano sampling/sequencing tips from experienced Js are welcome! NO

ReMixer: Ryndal Name: Matthew Kessler userid: 49135 Game: The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons Remix: Winds of Antiquity Original Track: Tarm Ruins I first set out to remix Tarm Ruins earlier this year. It began as a project with many more instruments, evoking an ethereal atmosphere that would show just how ancient and mystical Holodrum's ruins are. I eventually came to a fork in the road, unsure of what direction to proceed in. I kept messing with the melody and chord progressions on the piano, and I began to realize that a perfectly wonderful arrangement could be made on ivory keys alone. This time, though, I decided to advance the tone in a new direction, maintaining the sublime quality of Tarm but also showing the more whimsical nature of the Ancient Ruins located there. The end references the Legend of Zelda main theme and closes out on a major tone, signifying triumph and the recovery of the sixth Essence of Nature, the Blowing Wind. Adventure, myth, danger, vagary, and beauty. Tarm Ruins is one of my favorite locations of in all the Legends of Zelda, and in this remix I wanted to capture everything that it's about.

We're gonna take the FLAX yeast to the PAX feast!

Sweet intro. Actually, once things picked up from the intro, this was actually disappointingly similar to the original as far as the tempo and rhythms. Too bad considering how much more personalized the first 25 seconds were. 1:22-1:33 possibly used a very loose adaptation of a subtle part from :40-:43 of the source. The recording was decent, the performance was solid, and there were some embellishments/flourishes there in terms of adapting it to piano, particularly towards the end after 1:55. The left-hand writing throughout attempts to add that level of intepretation. But overall, I'm just not hearing ENOUGH beyond subtleties to really push me toward this arrangement standing apart enough from the original. The mood just feels pretty similar without feeling distinguishing itself enough. And at only 2:24 long, there wasn't much else to take away from it. Am I in haterade mode? I like the track in a vacuum. It's certainly in the right direction as far as personalizing it; it's not as if it's entirely without merit. No vote yet until I see how some others feel about the potential subtlety of the arrangement approach, but I just can't quite get behind this one.

ReMixer name: Tarcani Email: Userid: 50321 Game: Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island Arrangement: Run, Yoshi, Run!! Individual songs arranged: Athletic Theme Comments: I've been toying around with developing a piano arrangement of this piece ever since it invaded and pervaded my consciousness for about a month a while back. I came up with this light-hearted arrangement over the course of many revisions and I am pleased with the way it came out. The solo piano was an attempt to create a sort of homogeneous unit that demonstrates that this piece doesn't require any complicated instrumentation to be executed in an interesting and successful way. Enjoy!